All Seasons: Wisemon's Actual Ending Series
by Wisemon
Summary: Seven years later, the DReaper has returned, and it's up to Henry, Kenta, Tomoki, Miyako, Daisuke, and the entire supporting cast from the first four seasons of Digimon to stop it with or without their Digimon.  Lots of lessons are learned along the way.
1. Isle Thing

**Prelude/Angry Young Man:**

What if an author wrote a fan fiction series so powerful, that it infiltrated every non-scholastic thought of his for nearly three years? What if the willpower of the protagonist in this series inspired the author to make the same choice, specifically, losing over sixty pounds and giving up his favorite fleeting joy in the hopes that a permanent joy would come his way? What if the permanent joy never came? What if the author realized that he had achieved a will so powerful, a mentality so intense, that no counterparts from the opposite gender would ever be found? The happy ending wouldn't sit too well with the author. The only solution would be a sequel series, a more realistic piece of fantasy.

"_There's a place in the world for the angry young man,_

_With his working class ties and his radical plans._

_He refuses to bend; he refuses to crawl,_

_And he's always at home with his back to the wall._

_And he's proud of his scars and the battles he's lost._

_And he struggles and bleeds as he hangs on his cross._

_And he likes to be known as the angry young man._

_Give a moment or two to the angry young man,_

_With his foot in his mouth and his heart in his hand._

_He's been stabbed in the back; he's been misunderstood._

_It's a comfort to know his intentions are good._

_And he sits in a room with a lock on the door,_

_With his maps and his medals laid out on the floor._

_And he likes to be known as the angry young man._

_And there's always a place for the angry young man,_

_With his fist in the air and his head in the sand._

_And he's never been able to learn from mistakes,_

_So he can't understand why his heart always breaks._

_And his honor is pure and his courage as well._

_And he's fair and he's true and he's boring as hell._

_And he'll go to the grave as an angry old man."_

–Billy Joel

All Seasons: Wisemon's Actual Ending Series

Part 1: Isle Thing

By Wisemon

Digimon is the property of Toei Animation. This series is intended mostly as a release for a burning plot idea, and for an ending that I find far more relatable than that of my Alternate Ending Series. So, the dialogue will be a bit less frequent in this one. To save time, on occasion, there will be some he said/she said type narratives. As is my style, this is all in the past tense, like a fairy tale, a really fucked-up fairy tale. Because I put so much thought into each word, my interests lie mostly in poetry now, which is why I was reluctant to even start this series. Unfortunately, poetry can't satisfy my love of foreshadowing. This series will be absolutely loaded with foreshadowing, but you'll have to find it yourself this time around.

While this is labeled under a new series, it is a continuation of my first series and my A-Side (single), "You Don't Love Me Anymore." To make this more relatable for American audiences, I'm giving the previously unused characters (the Tamers) their American names. Eventually, the designation of Japanese or American names becomes a plot device. This series continues where the Tamers _show_ left off, a further Americanization, though plans for dubbing the Tamers movies are allegedly underway.

I'm not sure if every story in this series will need a disclaimer, but due to violent content, sexual suggestions, and drug references, this one certainly does. If you're under 18, just wait a little while. The time will go by before you know it, and you'll wonder what you've done with your life.

On July 2nd, 2004, the recent victory of the legendary warriors was unknown to their predecessors. That didn't keep the Tamers from celebrating another occasion, the thirteenth birthday of Takato. Above the Matsuki bakery, Mr. and Mrs. Matsuki had gone to sleep. Inside Takato's room, it meant that everybody's favorite (non-alcoholic) party game was in progress. The Tamers sat in a circle on the floor. Jeri was closely beside Takato, who sat next to Kenta, who sat next to Kazu, who sat next to Ryo, who sat next to Rika, who sat next to Jeri. They were passing turns around the circle, and it was Kenta's turn to ask Kazu the age-old question:

"Hey, Kazu, truth or dare?"

"Dude, do you really think I'm moronic enough to let you dare me?" Kazu replied rhetorically. "I've been choosing 'truth' for the past hour, and I choose it again."

Kenta's last question, "Do you have a crush on any of the girls at school?" received a crafty response. His question on this turn, "_Which_ of the girls do you have a crush on?" was the next logical one.

"You know the Stoner girl with the orange ponytail and the red suspenders, the one who dated that kid who disappeared? I think they call her Hazy. I've had my eye on her, mostly because she's in my math class, and that's when I get my morning wood. She's a very fuckable piece of ass."

Jeri whispered into Takato's ear, and Takato declared their decision. "Kazu, on your next turn, you have to take a dare."

"How come?" Kazu asked.

Jeri spoke up. "Your 'truth' is disgusting."

Ryo slid his ass closer to Kazu. "Well, I think a dirty mind is a terrible thing to waste. You don't have to ask; I want you to dare me, and while you're at it, dare yourself. Dare yourself to experiment a little." Ryo flashed an implicative smile.

Kazu had the perfect dare. "Dude, I dare you to stay at least a meter away from me for the rest of the night."

"Ooh, shut down." Ryo turned to Rika. "Alright pumpkin, truth or dare?"

"Give me a dare, something tough," Rika demanded.

"Show us all some of those kickboxing moves you're always bragging about."

"With pleasure." Rika stood up. She did a midlevel side kick, and she followed up with jab kicks (quickly bending and straightening the knee joint) at various heights. She performed jab kicks with her other leg, and then she demonstrated a multi-targeted four-punch-per-second combo.

"That was certainly…intimidating," Takato commented, "but if you had hit something, you would've woken my parents. That would've been bad."

Kenta saw an opening. "Rika, I've been taking Brazilian Jiu-jitsu lessons. Maybe we could spar sometime."

"Yeah right, a three-legged hamster would be more of a challenge than you."

"Gee, dontya think that's a little unfair? You don't even know me. I might surprise you."

"Not when I anticipate every move," Rika retorted. "Nobody can beat me, not even Henry…and where is that rice fryer? It's his best friend's birthday, seems kind of rude."

"Calling him a 'rice fryer' is rude," Takato shot back. "Henry's going for his green belt tomorrow, so he wanted to be well-rested."

"You gotta admire his dedication," Kenta commented. "I don't think anything could pull me from a sleepover party."

"I don't have to admire shit." Rika took her seat. "Jeri, truth or dare?"

Jeri was ambivalent. "Oh…I don't know…I suppose a dare might be fun. Okay Rika, give me a dare."

For the first time that night, Rika smiled. "Jeri, I dare you to kick Takato in the balls as hard as you can."

Jeri was appalled. "Absolutely not! I won't do it. I won't do anything to hurt Takato or anyone else…never again."

"You are so lame. I gave you a dare, and you have to do it. Just kick him in the balls. It's easy, and it's entertaining."

"I won't, and you can't make me," Jeri restated.

Rika cracked her knuckles. "The hell I can't."

Jeri whispered into Takato's ear, and Takato declared their decision. "Rika, I think you should leave. I know you've been upset since your grandmother died, so the way you're acting is forgivable. You just need to calm down for a while, and then we can all hang out again."

"Oh, I see how it is." Rika stood up and glared down into Jeri's eyes. "You're protecting his genitals, aren't you? You plan on doing something with them later tonight? Why don't you just admit it? That's all I wanted from you, a simple, straight answer. On your last turn, you chose 'truth,' but you spewed the same old puke. For months you've been saying that you two were 'very good friends.' Enough with the euphemisms already; just say it! Here we are now, so say it!"

Jeri looked away. "Rika, Takato asked you to leave."

"Fine, Ryo, we're leaving," Rika commanded.

"Missy, just because you've overstayed your welcome, doesn't mean that I have to get thrown out with you. I'm having a good time, and you never know what can happen during a sleepover party." Ryo gave Kazu a wink. Subsequently, Kazu gave Takato a pleading glance.

Takato didn't understand too much of academia, but he understood Kazu's misgivings. "Um, Ryo, I think you'd better go too."

Rika stepped across the threshold of Takato's room, but before she left, she stabbed Jeri with a sour taunt:

"Daddy's little girl ain't a girl no more. Daddy's little girl ain't a girl no more." Then Rika and Ryo headed downstairs and exited through the Matsuki bakery.

"Chumly, I owe you one. Why don't we skip Takato's turn and move on to Kenta?" Kazu suggested.

"Gee, thanks," Kenta muttered sarcastically. "Takato, I'll take a truth."

Takato couldn't think of anything original. "Kenta, which of the girls at school do you have a crush on?"

"The girls at school?" Kenta mentally cycled through his options. "The girls at school are too 'girly.' I want a girl who's not afraid to wear pants, a girl who'll stand up for herself, a girl who'll speak her mind." As he said the words, Kenta was noticeably staring at the empty spot on the floor next to Jeri.

Starting in late October, once again, the Tamers would stand divided. As with so many of the world's problems, this one started with parental pressure. Kenta had to get above 80 on his latest chemistry exam; otherwise, he would lose television and video game privileges for two weeks. The exam was handed back, and 78 was clearly indicated as the final grade, but Kenta didn't see it that way. It seemed to him that his professor, Mr. Akashi, made a mistake. After class, Kenta raised his argument:

"Mr. Akashi, on this multiple choice question, you asked which of the following does not form compounds, and I chose 'none of the above.' You marked Radon as the correct answer." In preparation for the exam, Kenta had the footnote in his chemistry textbook memorized. "Despite being a noble gas, because its valence shell is so far from its nucleus, Radon has been proven to form weak covalent bonds. Therefore, 'none of the above' is the correct answer."

"Great, another punk who thinks he's smarter than his teacher," Mr. Akashi grumbled. "Your role is the student, the subordinate, the giver of respect. Your grade remains as is; now get your whiny ass to lunch. You're late."

Mr. Akashi was right about one thing; Kenta was late for lunch. He entered his overcrowded school cafeteria to a disappointing scene. The meal line was a kilometer long, and the Tamer table, with Takato, Jeri, Henry, and Kazu, was almost full. Of course, by the time Kenta got his food, the Tamer table was completely full. Though unable to sit at the table, he could still ask its inhabitants an irking question:

"How come you didn't save me a seat? You know I always sit with you guys."

As was expected of him, Takato answered on behalf of the Tamers. "Sorry Kenta, it was an honest mistake. You hardly say anything when you're with us, so it's hard to notice when you're not with us. You could try sitting with the Stoners. They're pretty laidback; they probably won't mind if you have a seat with them."

Kenta looked around the cafeteria. Practically every table was designated by its own clique, much like the Tamers table. Kenta knew that he couldn't sit at any of the girls' tables, nor the Jocks table, nor the Queers table, nor the Goths table, nor the Macintosh Lovers table, nor the Pimps table, nor the Vegans table, nor the Retards table, nor the Orphans table… "I never realized how many factions there are at this school," Kenta thought. Per Takato's suggestion, Kenta checked the Stoners table. There were four kids sitting at the table, picking through the recyclable trays in front of them. There was a boy with spiky blonde hair, lemon-tinted shades, and a red trench coat. There was a girl with long dark hair who wore a black and pink spandex suit and entirely too much eye shadow. There was a boy with Taichi-like green hair dressed in a blue leisure suit with a yellow shirt and a blue tie. The last kid was a girl with orange hair (in a skewed ponytail) wearing jean shorts, a yellow shirt, and red suspenders.

By his nature, Kenta was shy, but at the same time, he craved socialization. Any opportunity to be among peers, even if he didn't say much, was one that he was likely to take. The toughest part was trying to make new friends. He really only pulled it off once, with Kazu, and then Kazu brought in Takato. Still, he figured that the more friends he made, the less shy he would be—the consolation of a catch-22. He couldn't hold his lunch tray forever, so he approached the Stoner table, and he offered himself:

"Hey, do you guys mind if I sit here?"

"It's a free country," the kid with green hair answered. "If you want to sit here, then have a seat."

Kenta set his tray down on the table, and he took a seat next to the girl with orange hair. "My name's Kenta; I'm in the eighth grade. You guys look to be a few years ahead of me, so I apologize in advance if I can't keep up with your conversation."

"Take it easy; we just met. It's too early to say you're sorry," the girl in black and pink spandex told Kenta. "Besides, we're not _that much_ older." She grabbed the nearer red trench coat sleeve of the boy sitting next to her. "We're in the eleventh grade, and Joker's in the twelfth grade, but Hazy's in the same grade as you. Oh, we should probably say who we are, sorry about that…Ughhn, now you got me doing it!

"Gee, I'm sor–" Kenta wisely cut his reflex answer short. "Why dontya tell me your names?"

"They call me Joker," the kid with green hair said.

"Like the Batman character, because you have green hair," Kenta figured.

"No, I got the name from the Steve Miller Band song. They also call me Space Cowboy. Do you want to know what I do at midnight?"

Kenta knew what was in Joker's hand, but he wouldn't call his bluff. "Personally, I'm watching mature-rated anime, and I'm not always wearing pants, and you probably didn't wanna know that. I guess what I'm trying to say is, unless you're hurting someone else, what you do in the privacy of your own room is your own business."

"I like this kid," Joker assessed (aloud).

The girl in black and pink spandex pushed the process along. "And my name is Bongo."

"Because you like to play those little drums?" Kenta guessed.

"No."

The girl sitting next to Kenta went next. "I'm called Hazy."

"Because you enjoy the Weather Channel?" This time, Kenta knew it was wishful thinking.

"Actually, I do enjoy the Weather Channel…when I'm high."

Kenta waited several seconds for the boy with the spiky blonde hair and the red trench coat to volunteer his name. Finally, he pressed him. "Couldya tell me your name?"

"Pass," the boy behind the shades stated.

"So you don't wanna tell me your name?"

"No, my name _is_ Pass. It's short for Pass the Damn Weed! I got the name because that's what I yell when these guys are bogarting the weed."

"Yeah, I gathered that." Somehow, Kenta was disappointed with his met expectations. Nonetheless, he resigned himself to sitting with the Stoners for the remainder of the lunch period.

Joker, the de facto leader of the Stoners, restarted the hot-button conversation topic. Their supplier, Yutaka, was still nowhere to be found. After his brother's disappearance, he knew that the cops would come to search his residence. Since he didn't want them to find his large stash, or any of his paraphernalia, he established a method for hiding from the authorities. Like most people who find themselves in tight spots, he relied on his friends, and fellow members of a house band for an odorous business bar, Denaka and Erichi. Denaka gladly accepted the duty of sheltering his leader, and until the police thought to question him, the method was successful. Fortunately, the cops did not come to Denaka's apartment unannounced. In the nick of time, Yutaka moved in with Erichi (a far more reluctant accomplice). This was how it went. Yutaka's friends passed him back and forth for several months, playing their own version of monkey in the middle with the police.

In June, somewhere in transition, Yutaka disappeared completely. One theory, though not a readily accepted one, was that Yutaka had joined his parents (sick of the detectives' accusatory line of questioning, and the distrusting looks of neighbors, Yutaka's parents had moved away months earlier). Whatever the case, since Yutaka's disappearance, the Stoners had been forced to conserve their herbal reserves. Joker double-checked the inventory:

"Pass, how many kilos are left at your brother's place?"

By no coincidence, Pass was Denaka's younger brother. "Kilos (plural)? We've been nursing the last kilo for a month. Either we find a new way to get pot, or we follow the gateway philosophy and move on to harder drugs."

Kenta saw an opening in the conversation. "Hey, I've always called it the Huey Lewis disorder, but if you guys wanna call it the 'gateway philosophy,' then go ahead."

"Okay, who's Huey Lewis, and how can he hook us up?" Bongo questioned.

"Sorry, I was talking about 'I Want a New Drug,' you know, the song that they sped up and turned into the Ghostbusters theme." As soon as the word "Ghostbusters" exited his mouth, Kenta realized how incredibly lame and out of place he sounded.

"First of all, stop saying you're sorry; it's contagious." Bongo started counting with her fingers, and somehow, she ended up with three extended digits. "Third of all, you're weird, even for us."

Hazy had a difference of opinion. "I don't know; I think he's kind of funny…but that might just be this joke I heard on the Weather Channel last night."

The Stoners couldn't have foreseen; the debate over Kenta's acceptance would be influenced by another group of drug-dependent teens. The Menthols, a brotherhood of cigarette-promoting bullies, approached the Stoner table, agitated with the Stoners' apparent increase in membership (Kenta).

All four Menthols were seventeen years old, but because they smoked, they all looked like they were twenty. They all had dark crew cuts. They all wore jeans and windbreakers. They all skipped gym class, but they were allowed to pass anyway because they reached an understanding with their gym teacher. As far as the pulmonary universe was concerned, very little distinguished one member of the Menthols from another. Yes, they had individual names and slight one-dimensional personalities. Carter was the leader. Archie was the most sadistic. Obie was the reluctant member. Emile was the largest member, the designated thug. To be precise, much like the Stoners' nomenclature, these were all nicknames; neither group wanted the authorities to know their real names. As was expected of the leader, it was Carter who made the Stoners aware that there was a problem:

"It seems you've got a new member, a little on the dorky side, but you're still increasing your numbers. We don't like that. See, once kids try grass, they never go back to tobacco, and that makes it very tough for us to increase our own membership. I had thought we had reached an agreement to not take new members in our respective gangs, but it seems that you're breaking that, and…" Carter pounded his right fist into his left palm. "…this displeases me."

"We never reached any agreement," Joker told Carter. "If the kid wants to join us, he's free to do so. There's plenty of room in this school for both smokers and tokers, so just relax. Everything is copacetic."

Carter turned to Archie. "Archie, find their weakest link and exploit it."

Archie spun Hazy around by the back of her chair, and then he stuck his face in uncomfortably close. "So you're the girl who dated that kid with the goggles? I'd bet you'd like to know what happened to him. I have good news; he's not lost. I remember it like it was yesterday, but it was about a year ago. He was a nice guy, didn't mean anyone any harm. So, I tied him up, put him in a garbage bag, and left him to rot somewhere in the mountains." As was his intention, Archie got Hazy to break into tears.

Though the Stoners were peaceful and too lazy to vocally reject verbal abuse, Kenta stood up (literally) for the kids who allowed him to join their table. It wasn't something that he would've done a year before, but since the battles with the D-Reaper, in his envy for the Tamers who could Bio-Merge and actively fight, he had taken Brazilian Jiu-jitsu lessons (or whatever they call the submission side of MMA in Japan). With the new abilities ever-present in the back of his mind, he constantly awaited his chance to play the hero, and it seemed that the chance was presenting itself. In a voice of previously unachieved confidence, he placed his wager:

"Hey, you'd better leave her alone."

Though Archie didn't feel threatened, he didn't appreciate someone attempting to make him feel threatened. When Kenta saw a fist being drawn back in response, he smoothly choked out Archie using the bully's own jacket (a gi choke). Then he allowed Archie's unconscious body to plop harmlessly onto the crumb-covered tile floor. The rest of the Menthols were ready to finish what Archie started, but they saw that a crowd had gathered, and they knew that a continuation of violence would draw unwanted authoritative attention. So, the Menthols hoisted Archie off of the floor, and they swore revenge as they exited the cafeteria.

Meanwhile, at the Tamer table, Henry was admiring the affection between Takato and Jeri. Henry considered them to be two of his closest friends, but at the same time, there was something nauseating about being around them. After the defeat of the D-Reaper, they were able to admit to each other that they wanted to be more than friends. Over the course of a year, they had developed a gradually progressing relationship.

"Takato, how'd you do on Mr. Iwamoto's last exam?" Kazu inquired.

"I did okay…not great…better than usual; how did you do?"

"Actually, I didn't take the exam yet, and I was wondering if you could give me some answers."

"Kazu, I'll help you study, but I won't help you cheat."

Jeri gave Takato a quick kiss on the cheek. "You're so noble, the righteousness of Gallantmon."

Takato blushed. "I just follow my heart."

Kazu ventured into another mineshaft. "Henry, do you have any extra cups of duck sauce? They overcooked the rice again, and it needs some resuscitation."

"Why would _I_ have duck sauce?" Henry knew the answer.

"Dude, don't get all uppity. I just figured you might have some duck sauce because you're…" Kazu trailed off.

"Because I'm _what_? Because I'm half Chinese? If you're going to be a racist, at least have the guts to admit it." Henry reached into his pocket. "I have a couple of packets of soy sauce on me, and that's it. They're yours if you want them."

"If I wanted soy sauce, I'd get it from the dispenser. I'll just scarf down my crappily cooked rice."

Jeri handed Kazu a dinner roll. "Here, Takato gave me a whole bag of these this morning, but I can't possibly eat them all."

"Thanks Jeri, you're really nice," Kazu glared at Henry, "unlike the duck sauce Nazi."

Henry didn't appreciate the nickname, but Kazu was right about one thing; Jeri had been extraordinarily nice, and associatively, extraordinarily happy, over the past several months. When compared to the girl who could only sulk after losing Leomon, it was like night and day. He attributed it to her dating Takato, and it made him want a relationship of his own.

Unfortunately, as a perfectionist, Henry couldn't accept just any girl. She had to be someone who could at least come close to equaling the intelligence, skill, bravery, determination, and discipline that he saw within himself. Henry knew hardly any girls, but he knew that it wouldn't matter if he knew a thousand, because none would fit his description, none but Rika. "Today's the day," Henry told himself. "It's a clever plan. Since she's a kickboxing expert, and since I have a green belt in karate, we're going to teach each other some moves from our respective styles. It'll be a great learning experience. Afterward, I'll say what I have to say."

Kazu rose from his seat eagerly. "There's some sort of brouhaha over by the Stoner table. I can't see it from here, but I'm guessing that Kenta probably said something that pissed off somebody; that's his trademark."

For Henry, it was an excuse to get away from Takato and Jeri. "Kenta might need my help." Henry joined the crowd of spectators just in time to observe the tail end of the conflict.

Kenta's classmates applauded his demonstration. Then the Stoners thanked him for silencing their buzz killers; Hazy was particularly appreciative. In truth, she was somewhat attracted to Kenta, most likely because his recklessness and nervousness reminded her of Takuya's memorable traits. She grasped Kenta's hand:

"I don't want you thinking that I cry all that much; he just struck a nerve. It was nice to see him get struck back, or whatever you did. That was really…um…brave of you. He was a lot bigger and stronger, but you risked getting turned into mulch anyway."

"Thanks, but I was just paying you guys back for letting me sit with you." Kenta searched his mental library for a better superhero line. "I don't like seeing people cry…not that there's anything wrong with that…cry if you wanna cry." Kenta put his free hand in his pocket. "Should've quit while I was ahead," he muttered.

"Kid, I changed my mind about you," Bongo told Kenta. "Joker already said it was alright, but now you've got my approval. I think we'd all like it if you'd come hang out with us after school—right Hazy?" Bongo gave Hazy a nod of comprehension.

Hazy returned Bongo's nod. "Yes, we'd like that very much."

Kenta didn't like it; he didn't want any part of it. The Stoners were nice, but he knew their habit, and he needed all of his brain cells. Hazy was nice, but she wasn't his type. He was looking for the strong and independent type, not the type who was likely to escape from reality whenever reality got tough. As he tried to think of a way out, he felt a dinner roll being placed on his head.

"Dude, it's your crown. I dub you, 'Duke of the Cafeteria,'" Kazu told his sidekick.

Kenta removed the dinner roll, and he noticed that it was half eaten. "Gee, thanks, but I think I'd prefer knighthood." Suddenly, the perfect solution drilled its way into Kenta's brain. Kenta's free hand grabbed Kazu's hand and bundled it with the hand that held Hazy's. Then Kenta removed both of his hands. "Hazy, this is my best friend, Kazu. Most people don't know there's a difference between us—because we're so much alike. When we're topics of conversation, we're hardly ever in separate sentences. So if you like me, you'll really like Kazu."

Hazy assessed Kazu. His visor reminded her of another piece of unique and unnecessary headgear. Unlike Kenta, Kazu's facial expressions gave off peaceful vibes. "You're right; I think I like your friend better. Um, what did you say his name was?"

With his fantasy a reeling away, Kazu attempted to make Hazy feel better about her lack of short-term memory. "I don't know your real name; you don't know mine, so what? I think we both know the matterisms."

"So it's alright if I call you Visor?"

"As long as you don't call me collect."

Hazy gave Kazu her address, phone number, and meeting times, everything she was prepared to give to Kenta minutes earlier. As Kenta looked on, he was happy for his friend, and he knew that he'd made the right choice, but he couldn't completely talk himself out of his regrets. While lost on this train of thought, he received one last congratulator.

"That was impressive; where did you learn that?" Henry inquired.

For some reason, possibly an inferiority complex, Kenta was surprised that Henry was talking to him. "I've been taking Brazilian Jiu-jitsu lessons for the past year."

"Do you think you can teach me some of that? Rika and I are going to exchange some combat strategies in Shinjuku Park this afternoon. Why don't you come too, and you can show us some of your moves?"

Kenta's regrets disappeared (for a few hours). "Rika's gonna be there? Hey, I'm there; just tell me where in the park and when."

Henry didn't like the sound of Kenta's optimism towards hanging out with Rika, so he gave him a time that would be a little after the scheduled session ended. It was nothing personal against Kenta, but he felt like he already had enough competition from Ryo.

In an infrequently visited section of Shinjuku Park, Rika insisted to Henry that it wasn't good enough for them to simply show each other maneuvers, and that they would have to learn by sparring, kickboxing style. Henry was reluctant. He had promised his sensei that he wouldn't use karate (in a way involving contact) unless it was absolutely necessary, a rule that he had already violated on a neighborhood kid. His sensei did allow for a sparring experience while in class, but it was a bad experience. Henry had gotten his butt handed to him by his sensei's star pupil, the machine-like Kouji Minamoto. Nonetheless, not wanting to displease Rika, Henry agreed to spar with her.

Rika came out with a flurry of kicks and punches, but they were all rendered ineffective with standard karate blocks. Still, the strikes were threatening, each successive limb baton came closer to creaming Henry's torso. Henry knew that it was just a matter of time before one connected, as he came to the realization that Rika's movements were faster than his own. "I have to take the offensive," Henry told himself, "but Rika's not giving me any openings…except for her base. As I move backward, she moves forward, which means that her base is shifting, and a shifting base is unstable." Henry's left foot stepped in front of his right foot, and a quarter-second later, his right leg toppled Rika with a spinning back sweep across her shins. Actually, the maneuver more closely resembled a warm-up split, and Henry had to support the landing with his hands. Nonetheless, it was effective.

Rika got to her knees and right back on her feet. She was completely uninjured, except for where it counted; her pride was bruised:

"This is stupid anyway. Everyone knows that boys have an unfair advantage in physical sports. If my body didn't have to have its useless childbearing function, I'd have more room for muscle, and then I'd clobber you. It doesn't matter; I'm still the best Digi-Battle player in the universe. I think I'm going to focus on being even better at that—with _Ryo_."

The stress on Ryo's name was a cheese grater going across Henry's brain; he knew the implication. "Damn it all, I knew you were leaning towards Ryo, but I was hoping I could convince you otherwise. Look, Ryo is only interested in one thing, and when you figure out that he doesn't want anything else, I think you'll be disappointed. Aside from that, we're so much alike. We have the same discipline and determination to learn all we can about our fields of interest. It's a very rare quality, especially among our age group. Rika, I wanted so badly to let you win here, just to stroke your ego, but I couldn't do it. I knew you wouldn't want it that way. Neither of us takes the easy way, and that's why I think we'd be so great together."

With Renamon gone, and with the recent death of her grandmother, Rika had gained some new perspectives on life, which just happened to be very close to her old perspectives:

"You think you know everything about me? Maybe we do have a lot in common, and let's say, for the sake of whatever, that we would be perfectly happy together for the rest of our lives. Terrific…but who said that I wanted to be perfectly happy? If living alone means being miserable, then I want to be perfectly miserable. As long as I'm able to support myself, the rest doesn't matter. I don't want to have to care about anyone or anything ever again. Because if I care, I can be disappointed; I can get all sad and pathetic, like Jeri after the business with Leomon. I'm done with partners of any kind, and since you can't even give me the pleasure of whooping your ass, I never want to see you again."

Though he was quite depressed about how his attempt to start a relationship with Rika turned out, Henry was able to shove it into the back of his mind by remembering some advice that his sensei had given him for dealing with troubled thoughts:

"The power in your roundhouse is amazing, probably your strongest kick. However, your aim is inconsistent, and in my teaching experience, I have found a common root to this problem. Never forget that karate is an art, a discipline. It must be a channel for your focus, not your anger, your fear, or any other emotion. When you enter this makeshift dojo, you must leave your anxieties behind. If you feel incapable of detaching your anxieties, just tell yourself, 'Everything Zen'—the British version of 'Hakuna Matata.' When you paint with this brush, the worries of your life never smear your art; there is no sex in your violence."

Kenta arrived in the specified park location. Once again, Henry made a plea for simply showing moves without contact, but Kenta said it would not be possible since Brazilian Jiu-jitsu was a grappling form of combat. With his sensei's advice, Henry shoved his worries so far down that he forgot that he wasn't supposed to use karate outside of class, and he took the offensive in sparring with Kenta.

Henry used a full power roundhouse that would've knocked Kenta unconscious, but Kenta closed the distance, did a single leg takedown on the planted leg, threw on an ankle lock, and made Henry tap out. In the next round, Henry came out punching, and Kenta gave him a hip toss followed by an armbar. Then Henry tried a back kick, and Kenta caught him with a rear naked choke (sleeper hold). Understandably frustrated, Henry abandoned everything that made him a brown-striped green belt, and tried to tackle Kenta.

Kenta snagged a guillotine choke, made Henry tap out again, and told Henry that it was probably best to stop the session there. The boys stood up, Kenta extended his hand, and Henry shook it. It seemed to Kenta that Henry had become a closer friend, and he hoped that they could build on that:

"Hey, maybe sometime we could do some other stuff together, maybe with Kazu."

"Sure, maybe sometime." Henry wasn't really paying attention. He could only think about where he went wrong, in sparring, and of course, with Rika. He turned to leave, and unfortunately, that's when he started to pay attention.

"So I guess I'll see you later. I learned a lot today."

Believing that he detected sarcasm, Henry nailed Kenta with a sudden and very high back kick. Specifically, Henry's foot met the corner of Kenta's glasses, and it went straight through them. If Kenta hadn't been wearing glasses, it would've been a knockout shot. As it was, Kenta was knocked down and stunned, his frames were busted, and he had a red mark around his eye that would turn blackish purple. Henry immediately realized that he had just made a huge mistake, and he helped Kenta to the nearest water fountain to wash around his eye, apologizing profusely along the way.

Despite being injured, Kenta knew that guilt was on his side, and he figured that he could exchange it for friendship. "Henry, I know that wasn't all about me; it's never about me. You wanna tell me what's really bugging you?"

Henry was reluctant to share, but he decided that he had nothing to lose by telling Kenta. "I just got rejected by Rika. If I heard her correctly, she has a solitary life already planned out, and I feel almost as bad for her as I do for myself."

"That does sound kinda sad. I've gotta admit; I had a thing for Rika myself. She's so smart…and strong…and…"

"…And Beautiful," Henry added with a sigh.

"Yeah, that too. With a little luck, maybe someday we'll both find a girl like Rika, just hopefully not the same girl." This time, Kenta quit while he was ahead. He turned his attention to his frames, and tried to bend them back into something resembling glasses. As he stood silently next to Henry, he watched two kids playing catch with a hardball twenty meters away. Broken glasses and a black eye, a trade he would gladly make again—for a friend.

By early December, Takato and Jeri's relationship had gotten nauseatingly affectionate, and Henry could barely stand to be around them. Takato wasn't so hard to be around when he was separated from Jeri, but he was hardly ever separated from Jeri.

Henry tried to rectify his jealousy. He observed the girls in his classes, looking for some signs of brain activity. Crossing out the girls with consistently wrong answers to the teachers' questions, or no answers at all, he eliminated 60. Crossing out the remaining girls with reputations for enjoying parties that involved drinking and illegal substances, he eliminated another 15. Crossing out the remaining girls with steady boyfriends, he eliminated another 15. Crossing out the remaining girls who were so ugly that they should've been legally required to wear masks, he eliminated the last 10.

Kazu was more or less an official Stoner, and he went over to Hazy's apartment almost every weekday afternoon to "fool around." He was a Stoner, except for the fact that he was reluctant to smoke his initiation. The Stoners would never _force_ it on him, but under typical circumstances, they would strongly encourage it. Unfortunately for them, their circumstances were atypical. With Yutaka gone, their reserves were just about depleted, and their recreational habit was becoming less and less of a frequent one. They proposed to find a new dealer, but none of them had the motivation.

For what she considered to be the best months of her life, Hazy had relied on the "helper" to get herself into bed with Takuya. After the first few times, deep down, she knew she probably didn't need it anymore. She still loved Takuya, but it was a fleeting love, as intangible as Takuya himself, and she was still young. Kazu's pointless visor reminded her so much of Takuya's pointless goggles. Still, without the aid of an inhibition killer, she wasn't sure, but Kazu was sure enough for both of them. Despite her preconceived doubts, the sober method proved to be a much more enjoyable experience. Kazu told her that it was because intoxicants decreased performance and sensitivity; he had read it on a website (one that he wasn't supposed to be on).

Needless to say, Kenta spent less and less time with Kazu. He had hoped to be compensated with some more of Henry's time, but Henry was a very busy boy. Between his karate lessons, staying in the top 5 of his class, taking care of his little sister, and his envious quest for love, Henry didn't have too much extra time for Kenta.

Kenta tried to take it with good cheer—every time he wanted to show Kazu a new Digi-Battle card, or show Henry a new submission, and they had other plans. Eventually though, it got to him. He hoped to substitute his missing socialization with one of his school's extracurricular activities, but he wasn't athletic enough for any of the sports that involved running, jumping, or throwing (all of them), and he couldn't join the chess club since the Geeks blacklisted him, ever since he told them that he didn't find Monty Python to be all that funny.

On occasion, some of the kids still complimented Kenta for his shaming of the Menthol member, but he heard the backlash far more often, in the form of tobacco-breath threats if he were ever caught outside of adult supervision. With nothing better to do, his grades improved slightly, but his mood was drained of optimism. It was quite noticeable to his parents, and they sent him to a psychiatrist. Kenta took the drugs that the doctor prescribed, but he knew that they weren't making any difference.

Rika spent her afternoons playing Digi-Battle against the only opponent to whom she had ever lost. Since that initial loss, she had reformulated her deck to combat Ryo's, and she made adjustments whenever Ryo made an adjustment. The results spoke for themselves; she beat Ryo almost every time, though he still managed to win with the occasional surprise card. For instance, on one fateful December afternoon, in their last game:

"SuperStarmon?! You didn't have SuperStarmon in your deck yesterday!" When Ryo didn't play into her strategy, Rika practically considered it to be cheating.

"Ooh, you're so cute when you're angry." Ryo flashed a jovial grin. "M-hmm, I changed my deck, and I won, but you can't expect to win every game."

"But I do, and I can't help it. When I set my mind on being the best at something, there's no turning back." Unlike Ryo, there was nothing light about Rika's tone; she spoke with conviction.

Without hesitation, Ryo stood up, sat down beside Rika, and put an arm behind her neck and over her shoulder. "Pumpkin, you have to stop pushing yourself so hard. Otherwise, I see an ulcer in your future. If you're having some sort of personal crisis, I've got an ear to lend."

Rika wrapped her arm around Ryo's waist. "Just an ear?"

Ryo raised a suspicious eyebrow, but he discarded the possibility. "You bet; in fact, if you want, I can sleep over. We can stay up eating pints of Ben & Jerry's and watching dubbed over Sex and the City DVD's."

"That sounds pretty lame; I've got a better idea." Rika moved her hand down and grabbed the top of one of Ryo's butt cheeks.

"Uh…pumpkin…what are you doing?"

"Duh, what do you think I'm doing?"

"You do know that I'm gay, right?"

Rika released her grip and slowly scooted away from Ryo. "You…you can't be gay! You've been flirting with me for over a year! Just a minute ago, you made a move on me, remember?"

Ryo calmly explained the differences. "When a guy flirts with a girl nervously, he's straight. When a guy flirts with a girl flawlessly, without any concern for her reaction, he's gay. When a guy awkwardly makes a move, he's straight. When I put my arm around you, it's because you're my friend, and I care about–"

"–Don't give me that bullshit; you just used me to play cards!"

"Well missy, if 'using' is enjoying your company, and being in awe of the best opponent I've ever had, then I suppose I used you."

"There, you admit it!" Rika gathered her cards and stood up. "I just wanted to try it, just once, but never mind…" Perhaps Rika was overreacting, but her misjudgment was exposed, and if there was one thing she couldn't tolerate, it was looking foolish, but of course, there were many things Rika couldn't tolerate. "I'm through with men!"

"Then…welcome to the alliance. I'll get you a rainbow t-shirt. What's your size?"

"I'm through with _people_!"

Ryo's tone became less festive. "Pumpkin, you don't mean that." Ryo unsnapped one of the deck holsters on his belt and pulled out a card-sized quote-a-day calendar. "Henry gave me this after we beat the D-Reaper. He called it a going away present, probably because he didn't want to see me again. I got the vibe that he was jealous of my fashion sense. I mean, the vest works for him, but orange just isn't his color. Anyhoo, there's a nice quote for you in here." Ryo flipped to one of the dog-eared pages. "It was the English poet John Donne who wrote, 'No man is an island, entire unto itself.'"

"You know, you're right, but _I'm_ not a man."

"And nobody's more disappointed about that than I am."

On the same fateful December day, Tomoki rode a Trailmon through a digital portal and back into the real world. Upon crossing the threshold to the real world, his ride camouflaged itself as a standard train. Tomoki was unaware of any stowaways, until he decided to take a look inside the adjacent cabin. He found one of the last digimon he expected to see, and certainly one of the last he wanted to see, SlimeBakemon. Tomoki reached for his D-Tector, called for his spirit evolution, and was immediately reminded that he no longer had that ability.

SlimeBakemon told Tomoki to calm down; no attacks were intended. Recollecting his last battle, SlimeBakemon claimed to have learned his lesson about challenging legendary warriors. Tomoki (and his friends) had earned SlimeBakemon's respect, and the ghost digimon wanted to join Tomoki on his journey. Besides, his home, the fence, was uprooted, and he had nowhere else to go:

"To digimon, the real world is the frontier."

Before agreeing, Tomoki called Junpei's D-Tector and asked for his advice. Actually, first he asked Junpei to explain how SlimeBakemon could still exist, considering that he was imploded. Junpei explained that complete implosions were impossible, because matter, even digital matter, cannot be created or destroyed. With SlimeBakemon's ability to reform himself, it was only a matter of time until the charge in the fence dispersed, and SlimeBakemon expanded back to his usual shape. Junpei advised Tomoki to accept SlimeBakemon as a friend since he made for an annoying enemy.

Tomoki agreed with Junpei's logic, and he told SlimeBakemon that he was welcome to come home with him, if only to prove to his parents where he'd been. As a peace offering, Tomoki reached into his (Takuya's) shirt pocket to give SlimeBakemon one of Junpei's very old chocolate bars, and his fingers grazed Takuya's picture of Hazy. He checked the address on the back, quickly calculated that it was closer to the station than his own apartment, and told SlimeBakemon that it would be their first stop.

A few weeks after the incident with Kenta, Henry had managed to gather the courage to confess the code violation to his sensei. As punishment, Henry was demoted a rank (the brown stripe was removed from his green belt), and four times per week, he had to spend an hour meditating. Of course, his sensei didn't consider the meditation to be a punishment:

"You claim that you did not consciously break the rules. This means that you are hosting a mental virus, of sorts. The only way for me to ensure that you are using your lessons responsibly is for me to see that your mind is healthy. Meditation is the only vaccine. It is the only way to expel the negative pressures that plague your actions. How you choose to meditate is up to you. Some believe that the goal of meditation is to clear one's head of all thoughts, while others believe that the goal is to engage in the deepest possible thoughts. I prefer one of these, but I refuse to tell you which one. You must decide for yourself. Remember, 'Everything Zen'—external forces are only as strong as you perceive them."

So, on the same fateful December afternoon, Henry was sitting beside a tree in Shinjuku Park, eyes closed and legs crossed. He knew that he couldn't use the thoughtless technique; his mind never stopped running. He was having trouble with the extremely thoughtful technique. His thoughts didn't seem to be deep enough. He thought about all of the more important tasks that he had to get done, and how meditation was truly a waste of time.

For the same fateful December afternoon, Kazu and Kenta had planned to go browsing together at a consoles and accessories liquidation sale. During school that day, Kazu had told Kenta that he couldn't make it because he had a test the next day, and his parents really wanted him to start studying. As much as Kenta wanted to trust his longtime friend, he was rightfully cynical. He knew where Kazu would be:

"Gee, what are the chances that his head is down in _a textbook_? Or maybe that's where his pen is. Maybe that's where _I'll_ be; I can't take any more of this. If it's gonna end, then I'm gonna be the one to bring it to a climax."

Before Tomoki stepped off the disguised Trailmon with SlimeBakemon, he realized that SlimeBakemon would be awfully conspicuous. He asked the ghost digimon if he could turn invisible (like Casper). SlimeBakemon said that he couldn't pull off invisibility, but he could turn himself into a puddle. Better yet, since his experience in the fence, he could compact himself into a sphere approximately the same size, shape, and color as a tennis ball. Obviously, Tomoki chose the tennis ball option, and he put SlimeBakemon in his pocket.

The walk between the station that entered the digital world (Shibuya) and Hazy's apartment was slightly shorter than the walk between the station and Tomoki's apartment, but that didn't lead Tomoki to any wild conclusions about Hazy knowing his brother. Tomoki took the elevator to Hazy's floor, knocked at her door, and tried to remember what Takuya told him to say.

Kazu and Hazy were right in the middle of "studying" when Tomoki knocked. They re-zipped and re-buttoned as quickly as they could, and Hazy checked the peephole to see who it was. Seeing an unknown kid, as opposed to a parent returning from work early, she opened the door without concern for Kazu's presence. Noticing the outlines of candy bars in his shirt pockets, she was about to ask Tomoki where his scout uniform was, but then she recognized the goggles on his head, and her question was one devoid of playfulness and packed with urgency:

"Who are you and where did you get those goggles?!"

"My name is Tomoki Himi, and these goggles were given to me by Takuya Kanbara." Knowing that his position was rather awkward, Tomoki got right to his task, though he had to pause occasionally due to vocabulary limitations. Essentially, he said that he and Takuya were comrades in an otherworldly war. Takuya did not survive the war, but before he died, he wanted someone to tell his girlfriend that he loved her, and he wanted her to move on.

Hazy soaked in the closure of Takuya's death, and then she realized that she'd just heard the more shocking _dis_closure of Tomoki's life. She checked to make sure that he was the same Tomoki Himi, the brother of Yutaka. Then she gave him the bad news, informing him that Yutaka was nowhere to be found, and his parents had moved away, either to Hawaii or Taiwan (one of the two, she wasn't sure which).

Kazu joined Hazy's side at the doorway, and he tried to console Tomoki by telling him that Hazy _had_ moved on:

"Dude, you might be out of home and family, but at least you did your amigo a solid."

"Like when I set you up with your 'studying' partner." Kenta had arrived on Hazy's floor just in time to hear Kazu's comforting words. "So what's the test gonna be on? Algebra? History? Lying your ass off?"

"Hazy, I have to step outside for a minute, but for you, I'll finish in fifty seconds…That didn't come out right." Kazu shooed Tomoki back, exited Hazy's apartment, and shut the door. He didn't want her to hear what he had to say to Kenta. "Dude, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, but I think I already know the answer," Kenta retorted.

"I lied to you for your own good. Kenta, take a lesson from me, and grow up. Sell off the Digi-Battle cards, put away the video games, and get a girlfriend of your own. I'm done with the kiddy stuff, and I don't want to be your friend anymore." Kazu turned around, gave Hazy's door his special knock, slipped back in, and helped the door close behind him.

Tomoki resumed his role as a silent witness to a traumatic scene, but this scene was unlike any he had previously witnessed. Kouichi's ending was horrific, Kouji's was depressing, and Takuya's was pathetic, but Kenta's plutonic dumping was horrific, depressing, and pathetic at the same time. Though Kenta was a stranger, Tomoki had no trouble finding sympathy for him. Most likely, it was because of how much Tomoki relied on his own friends. Tomoki tried to imagine Junpei or Izumi giving him a message like the one Kazu gave Kenta, and it sent a chill throughout his body.

After hearing that Tomoki had lost his home and his family, Kenta was feeling equally sympathetic for Tomoki's plight:

"Dontya need a new place to stay?"

"As much as you need a new friend," Tomoki replied.

Back behind the door to Hazy's apartment, guilty feelings were few and far between. That's not to say that the mood was completely apathetic. "What did you say to Kenta?" Hazy asked.

"I made a clean break." Hazy's (parents') apartment was rather cramped, not unlike every apartment in the district. Her parents had their own room, and she had to share one with her three older sisters. At the time, in Kazu's view, it was a shame that no one was sharing the futon with her, so he took a seat.

"You just broke up with your best friend, just like that?" Hazy snapped her fingers to illustrate her point. "Isn't that kind of harsh?"

"I did Kenta a favor." Kazu could tell from Hazy's expression that she was skeptical. Normally, Kazu felt no need to defend his actions, but he realized that not defending his past actions would prevent future actions. "You don't understand where we're coming from." Kazu placed a hand on Hazy's kneecap. "You're an attractive girl with standard teenage interests, and that works for you." Kazu's hand made its way up to the middle of Hazy's thigh, right at the edge of her jean shorts. "That _really_ works for you, but Kenta and I, we've always been…left behind. We had interests that most kids our age would consider to be immature. You helped me to grow up, and I've never been happier." Kazu snuck his hand up under the leg of Hazy's shorts and rubbed the inside of her thigh. "For the past few months, I've been given circumstances that I thought were reserved for movie stars. I've been doing things that I had convinced myself only existed in my dreams." Kazu's fingers slipped under Hazy's panties. "And that's what I want for my friend. I want him to find his dreams. I want him to be as happy as I am with a girlfriend of his own. He's told me a thousand times that his type is rare, but he won't get anywhere if he's still attached to me. That's why we had to go our separate ways."

Kenta escorted Tomoki to a very familiar (to a select few) section of Shinjuku Park. They ascended steps flanked by shrubbery and stood in front of an iron-barred gate. Kenta let it slip that the cubbyhole used to belong to Guilmon, but then he remembered that any and all Digimon information was supposed to remain confidential among the Tamers:

"Don't tell anybody that I said anything to you about any creature ending with the letters 'm-o-n;' it's something I'm not 'sposedta talk about."

"Who would I tell?" Tomoki pulled the "tennis ball" out of his pocket. "Uh, I might know more about digimon than you think. SlimeBakemon, do you feel like stretching out for a bit?" On cue, SlimeBakemon expanded to his regular shape.

"I should've known by the goggles…you're a Digimon Tamer!" Kenta exclaimed. "I had a Digimon of my own, a Mega, but he had to go back to–"

"–I'm not a 'Tamer;' I'm a legendary warrior, and SlimeBakemon is his own digimon." Tomoki realized that a full explanation would be a long story, and he didn't want to have to tell it all by himself, so he called up Junpei. At first, Junpei complained, claiming that he and Izumi were in the middle of some "royal business." Of course, Tomoki knew what that business was, and argued that the royal couple could afford to take care of business four times that day instead of the usual five.

About that time, Izumi joined in the conversation on her D-Tector. "Tomoki, you've only been gone a few hours, and we miss you already, but not so much that we absolutely have to talk to you. Seriously, the cord is cut; now go find your real mom."

"Not cool…" Tomoki's mood, which had just begun to revive, was shot down again. "My real mom is gone, along with my dad and brother."

Kenta sensed a very sad conversation approaching between Tomoki and his long-distance friends. So, Kenta excused himself, but before he left, he handed Tomoki a piece of paper with his information (name, telephone number, address, and email).

Tomoki related his situation to Junpei and Izumi (his cubbyhole), and naturally, he asked for their advice. Junpei reminded Tomoki of the emergency money, and he advised Tomoki to start by using it to buy himself a toothbrush and toothpaste; even humans in the digital world (Junpei and Izumi) managed to maintain proper oral hygiene. The rest of the necessary supplies, such as food and clothing, had to be initially bought with the sock account, but they could not be continually replaced unless Tomoki found a way to _make_ some money. Also, since Tomoki insisted on continuing his education, he would need some school supplies. About halfway through Junpei's explanation of the difference between #1 and #2 pencils, Tomoki had a brainstorm:

"Junpei, how much did your parents love you? Let's suppose that you told them via D-Tector that a nine-year-old kid helped you realize what was most important in your life; would they be willing to adopt that kid?"

"Tomoki, I can't thank you enough for making me realize that Izumi was more important than food…but you're not living with my parents." Junpei gave Tomoki his reasons. "That lifestyle ruined me. Do you really want to be fat, dorky, alone, and pumped full of antidepressants?"

"You're _still_ a dork," Izumi chimed in.

The insult reminded Tomoki to try Junpei's better half. "Izumi, can I stay with your parents?"

"You would be staying with my mom and her boyfriend, and you'd have to move back to Italy in a year. You would have to endure a fashion show every Friday night, a Rocky movie every Saturday night, and a visit from my dad and his band a few times per year." Izumi elaborated on the band factor. "When the band visits, they have a tendency to trash the place. You never know when you might step on some broken glass or trip over a naked groupie."

"Hmm, I think I'll stick with the cubbyhole." With the decision made, the call ended, and SlimeBakemon wanted to know how Tomoki planned to make money. Tomoki considered his options, and he gave SlimeBakemon his answer:

"I don't know yet, but whatever the job is, you're helping me."

Kenta crossed into a more frequented section of the park. He was heading home, but he was taking the long way. He wanted the time to ponder exactly what his ex-best friend had said. Kenta was certain that the words were unforgettable, but were they merely excuses for a separation, or did they have some merit? Part of him felt the need to be alone, but another part, perhaps, a larger part, felt the need to find a friendly face. Subconsciously, that was probably why he took his time strolling through the park. Unfortunately, the faces that he found were far from friendly.

More accurately, the Menthols found Kenta. Carter, their leader, said that the gang had heard rumors that Kenta hung out in the park playing cards. They had been wondering what took Kenta so long to show up. Then they labeled him by a series of insulting names in reference to what they considered to be a childish hobby.

Kenta could've satisfied their curiosity by telling them that his card partner was too busy for "kiddy stuff." Then he could've told them that he had recently decided to quit playing because collecting cards was too expensive. Kenta realized that it was all irrelevant. Nothing he could say would save him.

The Menthols spread out and surrounded Kenta, preventing any possible escape. Emile, the biggest and strongest Menthol, took the rear. Obie, the reluctant Menthol, took the left. Carter, the leader, took the right. Archie, the cruelest Menthol, approached Kenta from the front, and while he took his intimidating steps, he made the gang's intentions very clear:

"Punk, you've had this coming for a while. We're going to beat you to within a centimeter of your life, and if you're stupid enough to come back for more, we're taking the last centimeter."

"You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses, wouldya?" Of course, Kenta knew that they would, so he removed his already bent glasses in preparation for his beat-down, and he tossed them into some bushes. As the Menthols got closer on all sides, Kenta had an important decision to make. Since he was hopelessly outnumbered, neither of his options was very appealing. He could take his beating without resistance, and probably spare himself from any permanent damage, or he could pointlessly attempt to fight back, and risk punctured organs and paralysis. At first, the choice seemed obvious. Then Emile grabbed him by the waist to set up Archie to deliver a kick. Kenta could tell by the trajectory; Archie planned to put his foot…in a very sensitive area. It would not be allowed, not without a fight, but a fight required self-confidence and a strategy. So, Kenta told himself that he might have a chance, if he could manage to quickly make it three against one and work his way down from there.

Kenta suddenly squatted, catching Archie's kick in his stomach, but with so little power behind it, that he was able to hold onto the foot. Then Kenta tried to apply an ankle lock, but Emile and Carter tackled him. Still, Kenta held onto Archie's foot, as Carter and Emile began to pour down punches on his body and face. Kenta was forced to release Archie's foot in order to cover his head and ribs.

Archie used his freedom to kick and stomp Kenta's thighs as Emile and Carter continued to work on the upper body. Frustrated by an inability to get a clean shot at Kenta's nuts, Archie told Obie to hold Kenta's legs open.

Distant voices, something about a "centimeter," broke Henry's best attempt at concentration. He opened his eyes, uncrossed his legs, and determined to investigate the source of the commotion. His ears traced it to the other side of some bushes. Henry hopped over and took in the scene. It appeared that two of the Menthols were holding down and punching a kid; another one kicked, and another one watched. There were too many bodies for Henry to tell who their victim was…until he saw something gleaming in the bushes. He immediately recognized the contorted frames of Kenta's glasses.

Henry desperately wanted to interfere, but he was held back by the rule that he had recently forgotten; technically, it would not be _self_-defense. This was a matter for the police, but Henry knew that by the time they arrived, it would be too late. Still, he told himself that his only options were calling the police or ignoring the problem entirely. He told himself that if he tried really hard, he could ignore it. He told himself that it was just another worry, another external force. He told himself, "Everything Zen...Everything Zen…I don't think so." Then he got ready to break a rule—and possibly some bones.

Obie held Kenta's legs apart and stared down at Archie's target. If he wanted to, he could've performed the cruel stomp himself, but it wasn't his place. Archie was higher on the totem pole, and Obie couldn't go over his head. Certainly, there were times when he wished he had. For example, picking on the fat kid in the jumpsuit proved to be a huge mistake. Nonetheless, hierarchies had their purpose, and all Obie could do was await Archie's move, but he felt like he was waiting a little too long. Then he felt something else: a shin bone coming in perpendicular to the back of his knees. He fell…just like Archie…a toppled totem pole.

Henry knew that he only had a matter of seconds before the Menthols he tripped got back up, which was plenty of time to disable the two thugs punching Kenta. He started with the bigger one, Emile. Henry estimated that Emile had a height advantage of approximately two decimeters, but that didn't make any difference when Emile was already off of his feet and preoccupied with trying to get an unblocked punch into Kenta's face. Henry made a fist with the joint of his middle finger slightly extended, took careful aim, and jammed his protrusion into the base of Emile's head (where the brain met the spine). It was more than enough to incapacitate Emile, and Henry proceeded to drag the large ruffian off of Kenta.

With Carter obscuring his vision, Kenta couldn't see why a majority of his adversaries had been taken out of the picture, but he knew how to take out the last one. After blocking another of Carter's punches, Kenta grabbed the arm and held it to his chest. Then he slid his hips along the ground until he was able to throw out his legs around the captive arm and against Carter's face and chest. Three seconds later, Carter was on his back, caught in an armbar. Normally, Kenta would immediately release this extraordinarily painful submission, whether or not his sparring partner tapped out, because he knew that it only took seconds to snap the limb. However, Carter wasn't a sparring partner, and Kenta's _intention_ was to break the arm. Kenta heard a crack, followed by a piercing scream and a loss of resistance in his hold, and he knew that his goal was met.

Obie attempted to tackle Henry from behind, but as he made his grab, his gut was greeted with Henry's elbow. Henry wanted to follow-up with a combo or two, but his attention was forced to switch to Archie. The sadist came at Henry with a flurry of punches, and Henry blocked them all without much difficulty, but while he was blocking, Obie recovered from the elbow. Obie slipped on a fairly decent full nelson, and Archie got ready to take some unblocked shots at Henry. As Archie pulled back for the hardest punch in his repertoire, he was ripped to the ground by his neck. Kenta applied a rear naked choke and maintained it until Archie was unconscious.

While the choke was being applied, Kenta poked his head over Archie's shoulder to get a good look at who had come to his rescue. He wasn't too surprised to see Henry, but he was surprised to see Henry caught in a full nelson. Kenta was about to advise Henry on the best method of escape, but then he observed Henry squatting suddenly, loading Obie onto his back, and falling forward to drop Obie on his head.

Obie was stunned, but not out. He shook off the bad landing and staggered to his feet. He turned around, and he saw Henry, and then he saw nothing.

Henry caught Obie's chin with a left roundhouse, and he completed his favorite combo with a right back kick to Obie's chest. The first kick was the knockout; the second kick was the knockdown—simple, yet effective.

Kenta slipped out from under Archie's prostrate body, and he stood face-to-face with Henry. He thanked Henry, and he bowed to Henry. Then, of course, Henry returned the bow, but after the formality, there was an awkward silence. Fortunately, Carter was still conscious, and he was willing to break the silence by attempting to punch Kenta with his unbroken arm.

Unacquainted with resistance, the Menthols seemed to have a habit of going for all-or-nothing punches instead of progressive jabs, which gave Kenta plenty of time to duck. While he was down, Kenta pulled off a single leg takedown. Carter landed on his side, so Kenta didn't have much trouble turning him onto his stomach. Kenta threw his legs around the thigh of the grappled leg, wrapped his arm around the leg at the knee, grabbed the wrist of his wrapping arm, and proceeded to wrench Carter's knee joint. While he applied the torque, he gave Carter an ultimatum:

"I already broke your arm. Unless you want a broken leg, stop picking on me, the Stoners, or anyone else in the school, and pass the message along to your gang…when they wake up."

With a few more seconds of persuasion, Carter agreed to Kenta's terms, and Kenta released the modified kneebar. Kenta stood up and faced Henry again.

"Wow, that was impressive," Henry commented. "I wasn't even considering convincing them to quit."

"I wasn't either; it just kinda happened. The tactic has its limits; even a broken leg couldn't get them to quit smoking." Kenta chuckled to himself. "That's the only hold that I didn't learn from the instructor. He said that anything on the knee was too dangerous."

"No kidding, as it is, I think breaking his arm was going overboard." Henry realized that he was being somewhat hypocritical. "The move that I used on the big guy, I didn't learn that from my sensei. I think he was saving it for when I became a brown belt."

"I learned my forbidden technique from a kid who said he taught _himself_ how to fight. He named it after himself, called it his 'trap.' Naming a move after yourself seemed like a kinda stuck-up thing to do, but what wouldya expect from a rich kid with obvious issues?" Kenta got back to his delayed quid pro quo. "So, who taught you yours?"

"Sensei's best student, I think he was a brown belt with a black stripe at the time, taught me that after class. He told me to only use it in an emergency, and this seemed like an emergency. Still, I was hesitant to get involved because it contradicted with something Sensei told me. Fortunately for you, my dad's a Taoist. The Taoist philosophy of rejecting unnecessary violence superceded an apathetic Buddhist slogan. By committing violence against those who were committing unnecessary violence, I rejected unnecessary violence."

"If that's what it took…" There was another awkward silence. "Henry, I think we made a pretty good team."

Henry couldn't deny it. "Sure Kenta, now let's hope that we never have to do this again." Henry exited the park while Kenta picked his glasses out of the bushes. Kenta tried to catch up to Henry, but he found that it was impossible.

There was a reason that Henry's sensei only entrusted the Kokondo pressure point punch to Kouji. Emile was past unconscious, but only four people would ever know the secret. When Carter checked on the muscle of his gang and found that he wasn't breathing, he had to make a leadership decision. He knew that if the death were reported, everyone involved would end up in jail. So, when Archie and Obie woke up, the gang decided to bury Emile in an infrequently visited section of the park—and to never say a word to anybody. Once the agreement was made official (with a cigarette break), Carter went to the hospital to get a cast for his arm. Around midnight, Archie and Obie stopped telling passersby that their friend was asleep, and they started burying the body.

From inside his cubbyhole, Tomoki was the fourth person in on the secret, not that he would've chosen to know. No, he never chose to have the spirits of ice and darkness.

**Author's Notes:**

Musical Inspirations:

Henry and his sensei: "Everything Zen" by Bush

Kenta and the Stoners: "Faction" by Less Than Jake

Kenta's plutonic dumping: "Betray" by Minor Threat

Kazu's "Load" theme: "Ain't My Bitch" by Metallica

Rika's main theme: "Stay Away" by Nirvana

Tomoki's homecoming: "My December" by Linkin Park

Literature Inspirations:

Carter, Archie, Obie, and Emile are characters from one of my favorite books, The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier.

Television Inspirations:

This should be obvious, but…

HazyMisty from Pokėmon

JokerSpike from Cowboy Bebop

BongoSango from Inuyasha

Pass the Damn WeedVash the Stampede from Trigun

Mr. Akashi and Mr. Iwamoto were teachers at Sarayashiki Junior High in Yu Yu Hakusho, though Mr. Iwamoto also appeared in an episode of Digimon, so he's a "real" teacher.

Personal Inspirations:

The best day of my life was at a friend's ninth birthday party, a sleepover that included true or dare. It was all male, but the truth part was still interesting.

Rika's speech to Henry was very close to one that I got when I attempted something similar (and very stupid, in retrospect) with a girl who looked a lot like Rika.

I took several semesters of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu lessons.

My best friend "broke up" with me in seventh grade, and he looked a lot like Kazu.

The hand formation that Henry used on Emile was something I learned in Jukido Jujitsu class (not to be confused with Brazilian Jiu-jitsu)…as a debilitating gut punch. It was never meant for the base of the brain.

Kenta's speech patterns are modeled after my own, and mine are modeled after various cartoon heroes.

©2005 by Benjamin Wiseman

Email comments and criticisms 


	2. eBay

All Seasons: Wisemon's Actual Ending Series

Part 2: eBay

By Wisemon

Digimon is the property of Toei Animation. This series is intended mostly as a release for a burning plot idea, and for an ending that I find far more relatable than that of my Alternate Ending Series. So, the dialogue will be a bit less frequent in this one. To save time, on occasion, there will be some he said/she said type narratives. As is my style, this is all in the past tense, like a fairy tale, a really fucked-up fairy tale. Because I put so much thought into each word, my interests lie mostly in poetry now, which is why I was reluctant to even start this series. Unfortunately, poetry can't satisfy my love of foreshadowing. This series will be absolutely loaded with foreshadowing, but you'll have to find it yourself this time around.

I'm assuming that you read the last one, so I won't bother summarizing it. This one has some sexual innuendo, but only adults get it anyway.

The morning after his disappointing homecoming, Tomoki examined his new surroundings. The cubbyhole went much deeper than he initially thought. The end of the hole didn't even seem to be the real end, more like an obstruction. For some reason, somebody had jammed a very large rock into the unknown portion of the hole. The fit was tight enough to not allow any light, but the formation was clearly artificial. After brushing some dirt off of the rock, Tomoki found a message carved into it:

"DO NOT OPEN UNTIL DOOMSDAY—Takato Matsuki."

As a legendary warrior, Tomoki had some experience with ominous warnings, and he knew enough to take them seriously. He advised SlimeBakemon to do likewise.

While the majority of Caucasians and Hispanics celebrated the birth of their favorite son, Junpei and Izumi were unaware of the previous night's fertilization of their own son. Inspired by Tomoki's spirit suit, Junpei had asked Penguinmon to tailor similar ones for himself and Izumi. Beside their king-sized bed in Thundercloud Castle, they tried on their new outfits. The new and improved Junpei, the trimmer Junpei, filled out his medium sized solid green jumpsuit quite nicely. Izumi looked just as good in her purple jumpsuit (turquoise cuffs and collar), but she felt like something was missing:

"This outfit would look better with some turquoise gloves. It's too bad we don't have access to online shopping."

"That's because we _live_ online, but I'll be happy to pick some up for you," Junpei offered.

"No, the jumpsuit is okay as it is. Seriously, you chose a great color scheme."

"If you want gloves, you're getting gloves. Execute: Spirit Evolution!" Junpei became the homage to the Blue Stinger Beetleborg, or possibly The Tick, "Beetlemon!"

"Do you even know where to shop for gloves around here?" Izumi questioned.

"Yeah, Mamemon has a store that specializes in gloves. Do you want leather, rubber, or cotton?"

"Those are interesting options, but I was kind of hoping for some winter gloves, if it's not too much trouble."

"Every word I said is what I mean. Trouble can only come from your discontentment." Beetlemon stepped through the castle doors and took off.

Izumi recalled that she already had one glove. She snagged Takuya's left glove from under her bed. She examined it carefully, coming to the conclusion that it would not do as a winter glove for the impending January frosts. "Last year, we went back to the Flame Kingdom and waited out the chilly weather. I won't have to worry about snow when I live above the clouds, but the temperature thing could still be a problem. I'll just have to find a way to stay warm." Izumi grinned.

Takuya's glove was about to be laid to rest again, but immediately beforehand, its secret was discovered. It had a piece of duct tape on it—camouflaged duct tape, painted yellow to match the rest of the glove. Izumi pulled back the tape, and beneath it, she found three seeds. "It figures; Takuya killed himself to release three seeds, and that's exactly what he left behind."

On average, the climate got hotter. The skiing industry suffered, and elderly people died of heatstroke, but under Junpei's guidance, Tomoki cashed in by starting a snow cone business. During the day, he went to school, while SlimeBakemon, disguised in a brown trench coat and gray fedora, manned the freezer cart. After school, for the early evening sales peak, Tomoki manned the cart. This was the logical business move; for some reason, customers preferred Tomoki over SlimeBakemon. The total sales were so-so, but the profits were amazing. A few months after selling his first snow cone, Tomoki was able to move out of his cubbyhole and into a one-room apartment. The only thing he left behind in the cubbyhole was the piece of paper with Kenta's information. The information was never used; it wasn't even read.

In Tomoki's defense, Kenta was forgotten because Tomoki got into the habit of making all of his friends through his D-Tector. Tomoki already knew the code for Daisuke's D-3 (through which, he also chatted with Miyako), and with nothing better to do at night, he dialed random numbers in the alternate dimension. He managed to contact Yamato Ishida, Jyou Kido, and Koushiro Izumi, but only Jyou and Koushiro were willing to keep talking to him after the first thirty seconds.

Tomoki's physical appearance had changed somewhat during his 400-day absence from school, so his teachers didn't recognize him, and he certainly didn't help them by changing his name. He knew there would be all sorts of hassles entailed in being the child formerly known as lost, so he decided to be known as Tomoki Kanbara. For the most part, he didn't talk to the other kids. After being forced to grow up at an accelerated pace, and after living with Takuya, Kouji, Junpei, and Izumi, the kids his own age seemed very immature.

Tomoki managed to make one close friend. A girl caught him talking into his D-Tector, and she noticed that the communicator didn't have enough buttons to be a cellular phone, but just enough to be something familiar. She showed Tomoki her own variation, a pink Digivice with a built-in card reader, and she introduced herself as Suzie Wong.

Slowly but surely, Tomoki and Suzie got to know each other. The acquaintanceship began with SlimeBakemon, and a misconception that Tomoki had to correct; he and SlimeBakemon were _business_ partners. Tomoki told Suzie the story of the legendary warriors. More accurately, he had Bokomon tell it (into Junpei's D-Tector); it was just easier to have Bokomon read the book that he'd written. Suzie told Tomoki about Lopmon, but she couldn't say much about the other Tamers and their Digimon, but she knew someone who could.

Approximately one year after his return to Earth, Tomoki was introduced to Henry. The leader of the Tamers (though Takato, Ryo, and Rika begged to differ) was happy to provide Tomoki with biased bios of his teammates. When Henry mentioned Takato, Tomoki recognized the name carved into the stone in the cubbyhole, and he relayed the warning to Henry, Suzie, and Mr. Wong (a crucial de facto member of the Tamers).

Henry wondered why Takato hadn't said anything about the alleged "doomsday," and decided to call a meeting of the Tamers who still kept in contact. This meant that Ryo and Rika were intentionally uninvited. Since Kazu was "busy" every afternoon, and since anyone else was forgotten, the meeting's attendees were Takato, Jeri, Henry, Suzie, Tomoki (minus SlimeBakemon, who was covering his shift selling snow cones), and Mr. Wong. Because an investigation was in order, the meeting place was the cubbyhole. They found that Takato's stone was sliced in half.

Henry took the paranormal occurrence as a harbinger of something that would require his personal rectification. The thought of being forced to fight something like the D-Reaper again irritated him. Somebody was at fault, and Henry brought out his scolding big brother voice for that individual:

"Takato, how long have you known about this?"

"About what?" Takato replied nervously.

"That's _your_ name on the stone! You know something that you're not telling us, and you'd better spill your guts, or else…" Henry trailed off; he knew he went too far.

"Or else _what_?" Mr. Wong questioned. "Henry, this is why I pulled you out of karate lessons. You have an anger management problem."

Henry lowered his head. "I'm sorry Dad, but I'm doing my best to keep it in check. I just have a lot of stress in my life, and this is looking like another task to add to the heap."

"Whoa, what's the big deal?" Tomoki asked. "The guys I know, or used to know, punched and elbowed each other _before_ they let out the verbal threats."

"This is none of your business," Mr. Wong told Tomoki sternly.

Calmly, Henry re-questioned Takato. Eventually, Takato gave every attendee a full explanation:

"About two years ago, right after we beat the D-Reaper, I was feeling really down about Guilmon, so I visited his hiding place for old time's sake. At the end of the hole, I saw…well…a hole, the one that brought us to the Digital World the first time. I probably should've called you guys, and we probably should've gone together, but I just had to know right away.

The first time we went, the landscape was bleak, but this time, it was beyond bleak. The desert was still there, but there were no cliffs, no data packages, and the sand was gray. At first, I didn't see a single Digimon, let alone Guilmon, so I used my Digivice to hone in on the nearest Digimon. As luck would have it, I found Guilmon in a crowd of hundreds of other Digimon. Actually, 'crowd' is the wrong word; they were all standing in a straight line. None of them were moving. From the tallest Vikemon to the shortest Crabmon, none of them were moving, not even flinching. I knew something was wrong, so I didn't get too close. I was about to call out to Guilmon, but then…

…You want to know why I kept it a secret? Have you ever seen something so horrible that you couldn't bear to describe it to anybody? The whole line, all at once, they melted. They became that magenta stuff, the D-Reaper's Chaos. In retrospect, they were probably already part of the D-Reaper before they lined up, but at the time, it was like seeing a split-second massacre.

So, I ran, back through the hole and out the door to where we're standing right now. I knew that something had to be done. Without even thinking, probably because I was too shocked to think, I found a stone about the right size and rolled it into place. The next morning, I carved the warning with a screwdriver. Since I can't tell you why I thought a stone would hold back the D-Reaper, that's all there is to tell."

Understandably upset about the prospect of the D-Reaper being more powerful than ever, Jeri broke into tears. Takato hugged her until she was done crying (about seven minutes), and then the two walked out of the meeting without being officially dismissed.

"Uh, that was informative," Tomoki commented. "I just don't get why Takato's description of the digital world doesn't match up with the one that I know."

Mr. Wong fielded Tomoki's question. "The one that you know must have spawned from the alternate internet. We call it the digital world to distinguish it from the original Digital World."

Tomoki was more confused. "_Alternate_ internet?"

"Yes, circa 1997, a few years after Al Gore came up with the idea for the first internet, he ordered the construction of a backup internet in case of an emergency. The project was a joint effort of the American and Japanese governments, and it was highly classified."

"So how do you know about it?"

Mr. Wong didn't appreciate Tomoki's informality. "_I_ was one of the programmers who helped to create it. A couple of years ago, the alternate internet became the primary one. Remember when the internet went down worldwide for a few days?"

"Hmm, I _would've_ remembered something like that. It must've happened while I was out."

Mr. Wong gave Tomoki a suspicious glance, and then he continued his story. "When the first internet went down, we replaced it with the backup. The alternate internet had already been established in several hundred computers, so it was just a matter of spreading it to every dialup, cable, or wirelessly connected computer across the globe."

Tomoki soaked in the recent history, and he asked a bunch of follow-up questions. Mr. Wong wouldn't have minded answering them, if only Tomoki had shown a shred of deference. Disregard for seniority was something that Tomoki had always believed in, but the belief had been strengthened since his time in the digital world and his communications with Daisuke, the self-appointed master of defiance. Suzie had to offer some pleading glances to her father in order to spare Tomoki a lecture, and possibly some slapping. Henry wrapped up the meeting by concluding that no action could be taken until the D-Reaper made its appearance, but until that time, everyone had to keep an eye out for anything unusual. As Tomoki put it, the Tamers had to "stay frosty."

For Junpei and Izumi, the next four years fell into the realm of parenthood. The prince, young Tomoki, was a bundle of…well…he filled the hours in between royal sessions. It took a year for the parents to become inured to the crying, feeding, and diaper changing, but after the initial unpleasantness passed, they truly loved their child. They found that young Tomoki brought them emotionally closer, in an asymptotic kind of way. Meanwhile, Junpei and Izumi's lust for each other died down somewhat—until they turned seventeen and sixteen, respectively. At this point, their hormones hit full blast, and they were very happy to have each other. As promised, Junpei never broke from his diet. He never ate another piece of cake or pizza, never plowed through another plate of mashed potatoes, never downed another burger or frankfurter, and never scarfed another chocolate bar. His digestive tract was offered salad, fiber, fish, various seasonings, and very little else. Additionally, his "workout" sessions carved him into quite the physical specimen. As improbable as it was, in a similar fashion, Izumi became more beautiful. In summary, the boy and girl who were once outcasts of the real world became the alphas of their respective genders in a world most would consider to be a paradise.

Back on Earth, the original Tomoki did quite well for himself. With each year hotter than the last, Tomoki's snow cone business boomed. Junpei's business advice kept the snow cone profits high, but it was Jyou's survival advice that really paid off (in savings). As a medical student with personal expenses, Jyou knew how to be thrifty while still being safe. For example, Tomoki was advised not to buy any meat other than canned tuna (chunk light, not the solid white albacore, in order to lower the mercury risk), which provided his daily protein requirement.

Yes, thanks to Jyou and Junpei, an intangible father and son team of preparedness and good advice, Tomoki practically learned a new religion. He was encouraged to "borrow" the electricity to keep his snow cone cart refrigerated, and he was encouraged to "borrow" food from poorly designed vending machines. Without even needing to be advised, Tomoki "borrowed" some other things. He "borrowed" school supplies from other students' backpacks. He "borrowed" cigarette lighters from his teachers' desk drawers (he didn't smoke, but he knew from experience that lighters had better uses). He loitered at McDonald's, where he "borrowed" Happy Meal toys when parents took their kids to the restroom, and then he sold them in bulk on eBay.

Tomoki saved money the honest way too. He only had a few outfits, and he only washed them when they _appeared_ to be dirty. Among the other yen-pinching steps: just a small set of dishes and utensils (completely plastic and continuously reused), cold showers, an obsolete computer (circa 2002), CD's from the library, and leaving the lights off all but two hours per day. SlimeBakemon had to make sacrifices too. While Tomoki sniped the indolent children at McDonalds, his business partner dined on McDumpster.

The only times that Tomoki splurged were for Suzie. Not on the dates, since they could entertain themselves just talking (and nothing further) in the park, but on gifts. Izumi and Miyako advised him that clothes and jewelry were better than flowers and chocolate. Tomoki was willing to buy Suzie a pair of jeans when they went shopping together, but he figured that jewelry was a bit too serious (and expensive). Nonetheless, he called the science expert, Koushiro, for advice on gemstones. Koushiro reminded Tomoki that his expertise lay in inter-dimensional observation via satellite, and not in geology. In truth, Koushiro knew about geology too, but somewhere along the line, he had decided that since his knowledge was so valuable, it was not something that he should have been offering free of charge. Fortunately, with her eye for art and associated pigments, gemstones (or birthstones) were Izumi's expertise. First, she asked for Suzie's birthday. Hearing that Suzie's birthday was on March 26th, Izumi told Tomoki that he had a choice between diamond and quartz. Of course, Tomoki went with quartz, but he chose some of the best cut pieces he could find. Similarly to how he learned to master shooting moving targets, Tomoki mastered picking off auctions, and his PayPal debit account did the rest. For each of four birthdays, Suzie got a new piece of quartz.

Except for some extra warm weather, nothing unusual happened…until March 16th of 2010, when the D-Reaper's Chaos started to leak out of electrical outlets in every major corporations' headquarters. When Sony got flooded, the prime minister made stopping the Chaos a priority, and Hypnos was officially reinstated.

A select few were reinstated by a higher power. Tomoki was the only one on the team who had already been informed, so he was the first one contacted. Wisemon appeared on Tomoki's computer screen as a talking snow cone. Tomoki was reminded of his spirit suit and its activation code, and he was told that two of his Digivice friends would be his teammates. Then he was given a rephrasing of a prophecy slice:

"Tomoki, you hold the spirit of ice. As before, in an emergency situation, you will be crucial. You will be the cooler head when all others panic. For now, you also hold the spirit of darkness. I could tell you what that will mean, but you are better off not knowing. As a consolation, I let you choose the color of your spirit suit; nobody else will have that privilege. Under your burden, you will find it to be a very minor consolation. My apologies, but you still owe me for your passage back to your home world, and I intend to collect. You have already met Henry Wong. He will be the leader of your team. Meet at his home on May 6th at noon for further instructions. The whole team will be there, all eight members."

The snow cone melted, and Tomoki was left to cope with his roommate:

"You heard all that, didn't you? Are you going to help me?"

SlimeBakemon floated closer to his five-year companion. "You told me this would happen eventually, and I knew you would ask for my help. Here's my reply." SlimeBakemon shook loose several drops of slime from his body and sprayed Tomoki's face.

"Not cool, I didn't deserve that." Tomoki wiped his face with his forearm. "I'm just asking for a little favor. I know you know how to fight; we didn't start off as allies."

"Let me explain something. I'm a ghost digimon; I make confrontation decisions based on a dynamic of fear. You were afraid of me, so I attacked you. _I'm afraid_ of the D-Reaper."

"You've got nothing to be afraid of. No matter what happens, you can always reform yourself."

"The D-Reaper can delete and assimilate the data of digimon, _any_ digimon. Also, if he assimilated my reformation ability, it would make your mission a guaranteed failure."

"Uh, I think the D-Reaper can already reform itself, or at least that's how Henry described it. Oh, that's another thing; the D-Reaper is not a 'he.' The D-Reaper is a simple computer program, so it's genderless."

"I'm a computer program too, but I'm not genderless."

"So what gender are you?"

SlimeBakemon didn't appreciate Tomoki's uncertainty in the matter. "Obviously, I'm a male digimon."

"What's so obvious about it? You don't have anything between your legs." Tomoki corrected himself. "You don't even have legs."

"The only digimon with sexual organs are the ones who wear clothes. I'm a male because I choose to be a male. The D-Reaper could also choose to be a male, or possibly a female."

Tomoki ignored the inane scenario. "Are you going to help me?"

"I'm in, but I want a larger cut of the snow cone profits."

"What can _you_ spend money on? You can't shop in public. You're barely able to pass yourself off behind a cart in a fedora and a trench coat."

"I can shop online, just like you, without a disguise."

"Your shift brings in thirty-five percent of the total, so I'll call five percent your rent, and I'll give you the remaining thirty."

"It's a deal." SlimeBakemon extended a drippy hand, and Tomoki reluctantly shook it.

"Cool, just come with me to Suzie's place on May 6th. That reminds me; I still have to buy Suzie her birthday gift." As Tomoki browsed eBay for a small piece of quartz, he wondered if he should've told SlimeBakemon that the ghost's exact contribution was 36.375.

Meanwhile, in the digital world, a different sort of compromise was being reached. On the peak of Mt. Infinite Series (a Roadrunner and Coyote style desert cliff), Azulongmon, Zhuqiaomon, Xuanwumon, and Baihumon were evaluating their first joint effort in five years.

"I think that went well," Zhuqiaomon commented. "At least, Tomoki didn't seem to be too bummed about it. Um, I was a little confused about the number of warriors."

"You got confused by numbers? Yeah right, like that's never happened before." Over five years, Azulongmon hadn't lost any sarcasm. "There are ten legendary spirits, and eight DigiDestined warriors will fight the D-Reaper. That's simple enough, even for a birdbrain like you."

"So how do you come up with eight?" Baihumon pressed. "The spirits of thunder and wind stay in this world, Tomoki holds two spirits, and the spirit of flame is being retired out of respect for Takuya's sacrifice. When you do the math, that's six warriors, not eight. I think from now on, you should be banned from speaking on behalf of us."

"Yeah, besides, I'm the leader here," Xuanwumon reminded his peers. "I'm the oldest, the smartest, and the most powerful. Oh, and let's not forget that my chosen warrior saved this world."

"Buddy, we've heard it a million times. One of your picks won the jackpot, and thus far, ours haven't." Zhuqiaomon reviewed their respective selections. "You chose Kenta and Junpei. Baihumon chose Kazu and Izumi. I chose Takato and Takuya, and Azulongmon chose Henry and Kouji. Big deal, you got lucky with Junpei, but Kenta was your first choice, and he hasn't amounted to anything that we could deem worthy of a spirit."

Azulongmon started to chuckle, and the chuckle became something more, something frightening. "He's not the smartest, he's no longer the most powerful, and Henry will be the one who defeats the D-Reaper. Wisemon has prophesized it, and Bokomon has recorded it. It shall come to pass…but not without Junpei's help. That is why I said eight warriors; we will send Junpei and Izumi back to their own world to join in the effort.

"Hell no!" Xuanwumon exclaimed. "They're staying right here. We made a deal with Junpei, and we can't go back on it."

"We said he could be the king, but we never said he could stay," Azulongmon pointed out. "We'll find a reason to throw them out. The new prophecy says that they're needed."

"Man, the new prophecy says all sorts of shit. There are lots of interpretations." Xuanwumon remembered something else that seemed wrong. "What did you mean when you said that I'm no longer the most powerful?"

Azulongmon temporarily avoided answering the question. "You've been too content with the peace of this world. What would happen, if by some chance, the D-Reaper entered? You would be powerless to defend yourself."

"And _you_ wouldn't?" Xuanwumon countered.

"Unlike the rest of you retards, I've been taking precautions. The only way to prevent the D-Reaper from assimilating digimon is for me to commandeer the data. About a hundred Mega level digimon have made generous donations so far, but the data won't be completely safe until it's all under my tent."

Zhuqiaomon was horrified. "Buddy, you can't be serious. This is exactly what we're trying to stop. The D-Reaper's greatest crime is its destruction of individuality. What's the difference between absorbing data and assimilating data? How are you any better than the D-Reaper if you eliminate individual personalities?"

"I'm better because I'm the _best_." Of course, Azulongmon had to offer a more reasonable excuse. "As soon as the D-Reaper is beaten, I will return the fractal code that I have confiscated, and everything will be as it was before the D-Reaper loomed…except for some collateral damage. I'm taking necessary steps, and if you're going to be pussies and start bitching about ethical issues, I'm going to start ignoring you."

Xuanwumon called for his version of a filibuster. "Yeah, well, we're not summoning Wisemon until you relinquish the data that you've stolen."

"It's too late for negotiations. He has to be stopped, here and now, before he becomes too powerful." Baihumon secreted Vajra (diamond-like spikes) around her neck fur, "Vajra!" The western white tiger launched a flurry of translucent spikes, similar in appearance, yet significantly more powerful than Renamon's Diamond Storm.

Zhuqiaomon fired up his feathers. "I agree; we can't let this continue. Buddy, I'm sorry…Crimson Blaze!" The southern red phoenix launched a cliché oral fire attack, similar in appearance, yet slightly more powerful than HellDiaboromon's Habanero Breath.

"For the record, I didn't want it to come to this." Xuanwumon sucked in the necessary wind to blow out his attack, and then he exhaled, "Phantom Mist!" The northern black tortoise launched a condensed stream of gray fog, similar in consistency, and just as powerful as MaloMyotismon's Crimson Mist.

Azulongmon withstood the attacks for five seconds, just to prove his invulnerability, and then he retaliated. "Yeah right, if you didn't want this, you wouldn't be instigating. Not that this was avoidable, this was a long time brewing, and you wimps were next on my list anyway…Blue Lightning!" The eastern blue dragon launched an electrical attack…like nothing that had ever been seen before. The only familiarity was brief. When the attacks collided, their assortment of colors dyed the electricity green, and the origin of Wisemon's The Offspring Lightning was discovered.

"Huh, that didn't go as well as I would've hoped," Baihumon understated.

"It's okay; I've got a plan," Zhuqiaomon announced. "We'll attack him together. We'll show him that he's no match for the combined power of three of the four sovereign. Well, are you guys with me?"

"Hey Zhuqiaomon, that's exactly what we just tried," Xuanwumon reminded the turkey-brained digimon. "I'll handle the strategies; you can handle the strategery."

"What's the difference?"

"Duh, the latter isn't a word, but your uncertainty in that proves that you're…" Xuanwumon reminded himself who their actual adversary was. "Man, for now, we need to retreat and come up with a new plan. Otherwise, Azulongmon has our numbers.

"Forget it; I don't know the meaning of the word." Zhuqiaomon flew high, and he positioned himself directly above Azulongmon. "If my Crimson Blaze won't work, I'll just swoop down and peck through his ambitious heart. Do you hear me? Azulongmon, your self-serving data scam ends here!" As promised, Zhuqiaomon swooped down for a flaming beak attack of sorts, and Baihumon and Xuanwumon closed their eyes. Fifteen seconds later, Baihumon and Xuanwumon opened their eyes, and as they had anticipated, Zhuqiaomon was gone.

"Who wants to be next?" Azulongmon dropped excess sparks into the cliff's surface, carving random patterns of intimidation.

"We've got to get out of here—now!" Xuanwumon told Baihumon.

"No shit, I'm already gone." Baihumon dashed away from the conflict, unaware that Azulongmon's range was as formable as his power.

"You dumb bitch, you never turn your back on an opponent, Blue Lightning!" A bolt was deployed, and it instantaneously digitized Baihumon. As was his right, Azulongmon absorbed the white tiger's fractal code. "Thanks for giving me a moving target. That makes it so much more fun. Now, Xuanwumon, old friend, it's just you and me."

Xuanwumon considered his options, but he knew that he didn't really have any. "I can't go on without Baihumon, so I will give you no further resistance. Strike me down, if you must. However, before you silence me, let me give you my own prophecy, completely separate from the one our Wisemon deduced. History repeats itself, and the fate of Henry will likely be the same as the other warrior you chose. Yeah, I know he's the strongest, and I know what it says about the spirit of steel, but his luck thus far in life has been horrible. Then again, for all I know, maybe he'll be fine. One thing I do know, _you_ won't be fine. Power corrupts, but when it does, it doesn't remain. There's always someone whose occupation is to rebel and dethrone. No matter how powerful you become, no matter how many precautions you take, when you least expect it, someone will destroy you. So you can take my data, but you'll never find security."

"Are you done jabbering? Never mind, I don't care…Blue Lightning!" Azulongmon struck Xuanwumon with a fatal flash, and then he absorbed the black tortoise's data. "You fucking retard, no digimon has an attack powerful enough to destroy me. I have nothing to fear, nothing but the D-Reaper. I _can_ find security to deal with that. In fact, I can find an entire security team.

**Author's Notes:**

Musical Inspirations:

Takato's bogus journey: "Le Cirque En Rose (Obsolescence)" by Deadsy

Tomoki's "Load" theme: "Thorn Within" by Metallica

Tomoki and his thriftiness: "Tightwad Hill" by Green Day

Tomoki and SlimeBakemon's partnership: "Cut You In" by Jerry Cantrell

Junpei and Izumi's main theme: "No Way Back" by Foo Fighters

Azulongmon's machination: "Changes" by Godsmack

Cinematic Inspirations:

Azulongmon's successful ambitions are loosely based on Senator Palpatine's ascension in Star Wars Episodes I-III. Rest assured; there will be more Star Wars stuff later.

Television Inspirations:

The "DO NOT OPEN UNTIL DOOMSDAY" inscription was taken from "Knock, Knock," the pilot episode of The Real Ghostbusters.

Trench coats and fedoras were the preferred disguises of the original cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

McDumpster came from a sketch comedy; I forget which one.

Personal Inspirations:

I eat either tuna or egg whites everyday as my main sources of protein.

I worked at McDonald's. Those Happy Meal toys wouldn't be hard to swipe, not that I ever attempted it.

Yes, I will snipe your ass on eBay, but I prefer Amazon.

©2005 by Benjamin Wiseman

Email comments and criticisms 


	3. Don't Wear Those Shoes

All Seasons: Wisemon's Actual Ending Series

Part 3: Don't Wear Those Shoes

By Wisemon

Digimon is the property of Toei Animation. This series is intended mostly as a release for a burning plot idea, and for an ending that I find far more relatable than that of my Alternate Ending Series. So, the dialogue will be a bit less frequent in this one. To save time, on occasion, there will be some he said/she said type narratives. As is my style, this is all in the past tense, like a fairy tale, a really fucked-up fairy tale. Because I put so much thought into each word, my interests lie mostly in poetry now, which is why I was reluctant to even start this series. Unfortunately, poetry can't satisfy my love of foreshadowing. This series will be absolutely loaded with foreshadowing, but you'll have to find it yourself this time around.

In the last story, the D-Reaper emerged, Azulongmon achieved a monopoly, and an update was given on the status of the surviving legendary warriors. This story will delve into the fates of the Tamers. As usual, adult language and situations, so if you're under eighteen, this wasn't meant for you.

The way they always do, the next four years brought many drastic changes. Takato and Jeri were rejected by every major university; they just weren't bright enough. So, they got married, and they started their own restaurant. It was a bistro of sorts. Using the skills they acquired from their parents, Takato made the pastries, and Jeri made the drinks. Jeri's specialty was shakes, the same sort that she prepared for Orochimon. In order to make the restaurant a success, she didn't hesitate to serve her "shakes" to children. When the police caught on to all of the drunken eleven-year-olds coming out of their restaurant, they issued a warning. When Takato and Jeri continued to serve alcohol to minors, they were arrested and given a six-month sentence. In court, Jeri cried like a baby when the judge told her that she and Takato would be going to separate prisons (obviously). In a rare act of compassion, the judge found Jeri to be mentally incompetent without Takato, and the newlyweds were allowed to share a cell in the women's prison.

Kazu and Hazy's relationship didn't last much longer than a year, but to their credit, they were both a little more mature because of their time together. Hazy went on to nursing school, and she completely lost touch with the Stoners. Kazu became an assembly line worker, and he completely lost touch with the Tamers.

The famed Digi-Battle champion, Ryo got an endorsement deal with Bandai. Rika was offered a lesser contract, but her whereabouts were unknown. Rumiko Nonaka was rightfully ashamed to say that she simply lost track of her daughter.

As Henry had anticipated, those four years were stressful ones. He still talked to Takato and Jeri occasionally (through bulletproof prison glass), but for the most part, he didn't have time for unproductive socialization. He was in one of Tokyo's toughest public universities, and he was majoring in electrical engineering, quite possibly the toughest major. He still hadn't found a girl who was right for him, and since he was majoring in a science, he didn't meet too many girls. The ones that he did meet were weak, giving in to all of the temptations that Henry's foundation of discipline forbade. It didn't bother him too much; he was too busy for a girlfriend anyway. There were some nights though, ones where he got his work done early…and he cracked. He'd go to the roof of his apartment building, and he'd kick the night air for twenty to forty minutes.

On March 17th, 2010, there was no work to be done; Henry still had another two weeks remaining in his spring vacation. It was a shame that he couldn't enjoy his time off. The closest thing to happiness he found was in completing combos and releasing the questions he kept silent:

"I'm a guy who doesn't drink, or smoke, or eat crap, or gamble, or cheat on exams, or womanize. I'm a guy who works day and night to learn enough to have a career that can benefit humanity. I'm a guy who saved the world and got very little of the credit. So where's my female counterpart? Where is she? Is she majoring in one of the liberal arts? Damn it all, she doesn't exist!"

After he finished venting, Henry went back to his room. Other students lived in the campus's dormitories, but the Wongs' apartment was within close enough proximity to Henry's school; he could ride his same old bike back and forth. He could sleep in his same old bed. He could pause from his homework and look around the same tiny room he lived in all his life, and that's why he didn't like pausing. Henry had about another ten minutes to kill before his usual bedtime. He took off his same old green vest (purchased the day he got his green belt) and crucified it on a hanger in his same old closet. He sat down in his same old chair, logged into his relatively new computer, went onto an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers message board, and tried to glean some enrichment. A minute into trying to find out the latest advancements in polymer LCD screens, Huanglongmon appeared on his screen (as the chosen form of Wisemon).

Wisemon told Henry that he had been chosen to be the leader of a team of DigiDestined children. Their mission, a mission they could not refuse, was to eliminate the D-Reaper before it completely ravaged Earth and entered the digital world. Henry was given the spirit of steel, and his Digivice (sealed in a plastic container under his bed) was converted into a metallic gray D-Tector. This allowed Henry to summon his corresponding spirit suit, metallic gray with medium green cuffs and collar. Wisemon had hoped to deliver a completely rhetorical prophecy to his number one draft pick, but it didn't play out that way:

"Henry, I am a descendent of the ancient warrior of steel. Therefore, in a way, your spirit of steel is my spirit as well, and I have customized it to be the strongest of the spirits. Instead of the black rubber boots that accompany your teammates' suits, your suit comes with amplification sneakers. They will increase your jumping strength tenfold, and, since it would be a shame to waste your martial arts skills, the sneakers emit a destructive energy capable of taking out the D-Reaper's agents on contact. Also, I packed your suit with extra Kevlar, enough to make it completely invulnerable to the D-Reaper's fiercest attacks. I have entitled you to these fortifications, because analogously, you are the strongest of the Tamers, the only one who managed a successful assault against the D-Reaper."

"Terriermon did half of the work, and we were just following orders," Henry admitted.

"Indeed, but there was a reason you and Terriermon were chosen above the other children to carry out Operation: Doodlebug. Your inclinations toward responsibility and excellence made you the best option for executing the program. These are the traits one looks for in a leader. According to the prophecy, you are the frame upon which your teammates are supported."

"Alright, but who are my teammates going to be?"

"You will know when you all meet together for the first time: May 6th, at your apartment."

"That's not going to cut it. If I'm going to be an effective leader, I need to know who's on my team ASAP, and since you know, ASAP is now." Henry had a logical excuse. "I need time to do background research."

"Very well, you already know the holder of the spirits of ice and darkness, the boy you call Tomoki Kanbara."

"You mean Suzie's friend?" Henry checked.

"Yeah right, they're just 'friends.'"

"Suzie told me that she doesn't like him as anything more than a friend…and what happened to your excessive formality?"

The oddity that Henry was noticing was Azulongmon's dominance over Wisemon, which worked its way into Wisemon's speech pattern when Azulongmon wasn't careful. Wisemon hastily recovered. "I am as I am…as are you. Now, speaking of Suzie, she will also be on your team. While I am the descendent of the guardian of the spirit of steel, my other favorite warrior, after you, was the warrior of light. Therefore, I have decided to give that honor to your sister. Besides, the warrior of light must be light of words, and your sister meets that prerequisite."

"You will do no such thing. Look, I didn't want Suzie in on the first battle; it was far too dangerous. What kind of older brother would I be if I let her join in this one?"

"It will not be all that dangerous," Wisemon argued. "Granted, many innocent civilians will die, but only one member of your team is guaranteed to die."

"With the way Suzie abandons caution, that one would most likely be her, or maybe I'd die of a heart attack trying to keep her out of trouble. Either way, I'm not letting her on the team, so choose a replacement."

Wisemon saw the validity in Henry's reservation. "Very well, there is another who meets the criteria for the warrior of light, but he is not exactly a team player."

"Good, neither am I. There's an old proverb: the best teammates are those who prefer to work independently. Now who else is on my team?"

"The holders of the spirits of wood and water will come from the alternate dimension. The holders of the spirits of thunder and wind will come from the digital world itself. You have no acquaintanceship with these people, so their potential deaths should not concern you."

"That's a pretty heartless thing to say. A good leader keeps his whole team alive, whether or not he knows them personally." Henry said the words in a militant monotone, but he legitimately meant them. "Is there anybody else?"

"Only the warrior of earth can assure the Earth's safety, so he is quite possibly the most important member of your team. I have chosen the Digital World's most celebrated hero, Ryo Akiyama, for this position."

"I don't think so. For lack of a better term, Ryo's a ball hog. In our last battle with the D-Reaper, he took all of Sakuyamon's power, used it on one shot, and that shot didn't do a damn thing. Ryo _thinks_ that he's some sort of great combatant, just because he's hot shit in the card game. He's nothing but a poser, a fraud, too afraid to come out of the closet and admit his own shortcomings. I can't work with somebody like that." Though the reason he gave was legitimate, Henry's main reason for not wanting to work with Ryo had more to do with Rika choosing Ryo. Of course, Henry had no idea how Ryo and Rika's relationship worked out (or didn't work out), but not being chosen irked him.

"You are really starting to push your luck," Wisemon warned. "Takato and Jeri are in jail. Rika is missing. Therefore, Ryo is your only option anyway."

"I think you forgot a couple of Tamers. Sure, Kazu is an asshole, but I'm willing to team up with Kenta again. I've been meaning to give that kid a call anyway; I just never got around to it."

Thrown from his train of thought, Azulongmon soaked through Wisemon again. "Are you fucking retarded? Do you have any idea what happened to Kenta? He's just a pathetic video game-addicted sloth nowadays, and he's fifteen kilos overweight."

"Last I heard, he became a mechanical engineering student, and he took Brazilian Jiu-jitsu lessons back when I took karate lessons. When we sparred, he actually got the better of me. If he gets into shape, he'll be an asset."

"That's a big 'if,' and the kid is not a very good mechanical engineering student. Kenta is barely surviving his classes. Do you really expect him to hold up against the D-Reaper?" In truth, Azulongmon was reluctant to allow the substitution because Kenta was Xuanwumon's first choice.

Henry put his foot down. "If you want me to lead your team, your team will include Kenta."

Not wanting to lose Henry, Azulongmon recovered his Wisemon mindset. "Very well, I will put him in contact with a DigiDestined who successfully lost weight. Also, while the other DigiDestined will ultimately answer to me, Kenta will be your direct responsibility."

"So you're giving me a pupil, and you're making me a sensei?" Henry knew the system all too well.

"Your keen observations reinforce my faith in you."

A few minutes after visiting with Henry, Wisemon appeared on Kenta's computer screen as a Starmon. Unfortunately for Wisemon, Kenta was engrossed in his television screen. In an extremely small dormitory at a Tokyo tech school, with the lights out, and the Playstation 3 on, Kenta sat with his legs crossed on a sheet of remnant carpeting. Technically, he wasn't supposed to be in his dorm room. His classes did not start for a few weeks. His parents disapproved of his playing video games and being generally unproductive, so he chose to live in his dorm room during his spring vacation. A limited edition gold controller was in his right hand, a box of doughnuts was in his left hand, and a dream was in his soul:

"This is it! As soon as I slay Cryotek, peace will be restored to the kingdom, and I'll become a Knight of Transcendence." Cryotek appeared on Kenta's screen in all its glorious pixilation. "Cryotek's not 'sposedta be a woman. The online FAQ didn't say anything about this. So…should I use magic or a straight attack?" Kenta snagged a fresh doughnut from the box, and he took a bite. "I'd better check the FAQ again. While I'm on the internet, I might as well squeeze one out; that outfit on Cryotek is awfully skimpy." Kenta dropped his pants and plopped himself in his computer chair. "Is that a Starmon?"

"I take many forms," Wisemon told Kenta. "For the likes of you, I am a mere Starmon."

"You don't sound like the Starmon from 'The Good, the Bad, and the Digi,' Kenta noted. Couldya give me some sheriff lingo? I think it would be kinda neat if you did. Here, try this line: 'There ain't enough room in this town for the both of us.' Dontya like the sound of that? I think I'm gonna start saying 'ain't' more often."

Azulongmon lost his patience, and once again, he lost control of Wisemon. "Are you stupid, stoned, or both? This is a conversation about saving the world from its greatest immediate danger, and you've got overblown 1890's Americana dialect on your mind. Get your fucking head straight, drop the doughnut…and put some goddamn pants on!"

Kenta held on to his doughnut, and he left his pants off; one phrase caught his attention:

"You're saying I get an opportunity to save the world? You've gotta be talking about that thing with the D-Reaper, right?" Kenta had gotten through his miserable high school years by telling himself that he was meant for something great, something heroic. Upon entering college, he had hoped to go to parties, to make new friends, to become more mature and realistic, but the dream refused to die. "I guess it's gonna be dangerous, something not for the weak of will." Without even thinking, Kenta took another bite of doughnut. "It's gonna be something for the pure of thought." Without even thinking, Kenta reached into his underpants and tossed around his sausage. "Lesser men probably couldn't handle something like this, but I'm ready."

The Starmon on Kenta's screen frowned in disapproval. "Yeah right, you're ready to take on the whole fucking universe with a gut full of pastries. First, you need to lose the weight. Wait a minute; first, I need to convert your Digivice. Do you still have your Digivice?"

Kenta grabbed his pants from the floor, and he unclipped his Digivice from his belt. "Everybody else has a cell phone, but I've got no one to call, so I still carry this thing."

"You're a waste of life; you know that?"

"Hey, you don't have to be so mean; I'm doing you a favor." Kenta held his Digivice up to the computer monitor. "Can you alter my Digivice through the screen with some sort of funky magic, or is this going to require a USB cable?"

"…Funky magic," the Starmon answered reluctantly. Seconds later, Kenta's Digivice was converted into a marigold D-Tector. "You have your D-Tector, but I would advise that you not summon your spirit suit until you lose fifteen kilograms. To help you with your diet, I programmed the D-Tector number of the holder of the spirit of thunder."

"What's a D-Tector number, and how does it help me lose weight?"

"You are aggravatingly slow. Every Digivice and D-Tector has its own code, like a telephone number, which can be utilized similarly."

"Why dontya just give us all cell phones?" Kenta suggested.

"A cell phone is an extra piece of equipment. This is cheaper, it can't be bugged, you never lose reception, and you just told me that you never carry a cell phone anyway."

"Oh yeah…so how's the warrior of thunder gonna help me?"

"Ask him yourself, and while you're at it, get in on Henry's workouts. Take down this code." The code for Henry's D-Tector flashed on Kenta's screen, and Kenta wrote it down.

"So Henry's part of this thing too? Anybody else I know?"

"Ryo should have been a part of my team, but per Henry's request, you are replacing him as the warrior of earth." Within the Starmon, within Wisemon, a malicious realization crossed Azulongmon's mind. "You are replacing Ryo; you have some very ornery shoes to fill. Are you certain that you can handle the obligation of the warrior of earth?" Azulongmon knew that Kenta's enthusiasm would not permit a refusing response under any circumstances.

"I ain't backing out now. This is my destiny." Kenta examined his new D-Tector as he continued his speech. "All of the years of playing RPG's alone in my room, all of the years of watching the likes of Yusuke Urameshi, Amuro Ray, Jason Lee Scott, Inspector Gadget, Darkwing Duck, and The Tick,"

"Wait a minute, most of those aren't–"

"–It's all led up to this. So if I gotta lose weight to be a superhero, then that's what I'm gonna do. Just give me a chance, and I won't disappoint you." Kenta put his hands together, passing a sacrilegious prayer to his computer screen.

In an exasperated tone, the final instruction was given. "Show up at Henry's apartment at noon on May 6th for further information. You'd better be in shape by then." Then the Starmon disappeared from Kenta's screen.

"Kenta Kitagawa, the warrior of earth. I like the sound of that." Then Kenta remembered the contingency. "Starmon had a point; most heroes don't border on obesity." After some trial and error, Kenta figured out the functions of the buttons on his D-Tector. He cycled through his database and found the number for Junpei's D-Tector. "I'll give this so-called warrior of thunder a call."

A few hours earlier, in the digital world, Bokomon was riding VerticalTrailmon all the way to the top. His bible of dictation was stuffed into his waistband, and he was looking to pass along the latest entry. The elevator digimon provided no music, so a conversation seemed appropriate:

"VerticalTrailmon, anything new with you?"

"There's nothing new with me. There will never be anything _new_ with me. I can only look forward to going out of order and heading to the Trailmon Graveyard, but even when that happens, I'll just get reborn and put back here. My life is a bunch of ups and downs, and that's all there will ever be."

"My life is not all that much better," Bokomon argued.

"When the ride's over, you get to step out onto Cloud Kingdom. You get to make your own decisions. You're not bound to anything."

Bokomon tapped the book in his waistband. "I'm bound as the recorder of Wisemon's prophecies and every event of historical significance. It is not a very time-consuming job, but it is a very important one. Without someone to record and share the past, future disasters would not be averted; history would repeat itself."

"Can you keep me from repeating myself? I do the same thing every fucking day."

"That is not what I meant." Though he wanted to ignore the sudden doubts, in a macrocosm, Bokomon wondered if he really could keep history from repeating itself. "Wisemon's prophecies are still of great importance. If I had not recorded those, HellDiaboromon would have conquered this world."

"Fine, if that job is so important, Wisemon must be paying you a bundle."

"Actually, I do it free of charge, out of a sense of duty." Bokomon felt his ride stopping, and he saw the doors opening to reveal the cottony terrain of Cloud Kingdom. He knew what lay ahead: the walk to Thundercloud Castle, the uncomfortable conversation, and he just had to hope the Junpei and Izumi weren't in the middle of their "royal business." Bokomon released an anxious sigh. "Perhaps I should renegotiate my contract."

Thundercloud Castle was no longer one large room. It had been divided into living space and office space, and subdivided into two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, a family room, a waiting room, and a dining/conference room. It was in this last room where Junpei and Izumi were conducting business (yes, their actual business). They sat side by side at the head of a long polished oak table. Their perfect bodies in their green and purple jumpsuits intimidated many digimon, but Ophanimon knew them before they were royalty, and she would not be intimidated:

"What do you mean you won't fight him? It's your job to protect every digimon, even those who can normally protect themselves. So when I tell you that Azulongmon has been taking the fractal code of Mega level digimon, you have an obligation to get off your asses and do something about it!"

Junpei leaned back in his throne and put his hands behind his head. "Do you have any _proof_ that Azulongmon is the cause of the disappearances?"

"I have eyewitnesses, but they're too afraid to come forward."

Izumi leaned back in her throne and put her hands behind her head. "So they talk to you, but they won't talk to us?"

"Azulongmon doesn't want you knowing, so he picks off digimon just before they enter VerticalTrailmon."

Junpei put his feet on the table. "Yeah, that's what I'd do if I were him. If you see the big gas dragon, give him my props. Wait, if that's his strategy, how did you make it up here?"

"I was monitoring him, looking for my opportunity. I saw him become something else, and that something else went away for a while, but he'll be back. Don't you understand that the more digimon he absorbs, the more powerful he becomes? Now he's more powerful than any other Mega in this world, including myself. He needs to be stopped." Ophanimon relayed her idea. "I'm disliked by other digimon because I'm not that bimbo, the original Ophanimon, and because my boyfriends end up dead. However, you two have sway, stroke, or whatever you call it. If you gather an army, they'll follow you. Then you just might stand a chance, but you have to take action now."

Izumi put her feet on the table. "We don't need an army. No digimon in this world is more powerful than me."

Ophanimon was skeptical. "You really think you can take on a Mega who's absorbed the data of a hundred other Megas?"

Young Tomoki entered the room. "My mommy can do whatever the hell she wants." Young Tomoki took the seat next to Izumi, leaned back in his chair, put his hands behind his head, and put his feet on the table.

"You've got a pretty big mouth for a preschooler." Ophanimon altered her tactic. "Fine, if you're so tough, prove it; go confront Azulongmon."

Bokomon entered the room. "That will not be necessary. Azulongmon is part of Wisemon, and Wisemon will come for you shortly."

"Hey, it's Uncle Bokomon!" young Tomoki exclaimed. "Why are you here today?"

"Thanks for the setup." Bokomon bowed to young Tomoki, and then to Junpei and Izumi. He ignored the presence of the digimon who raped him. "I am here to read Wisemon's latest prophecy. Get comfortable, and I will begin."

Junpei stretched and yawned, and the rest of his family followed. "Man, if we were any more comfortable, we'd be naked."

"And humping," Izumi added.

"In that case, I'll begin." Bokomon took out his book and opened up to a bookmarked page, Wisemon's latest prophecy:

When the D-Reaper reveals itself, only a team of teenagers with a past corporeal digitalization, in other words, DigiDestined, will be able to vanquish the threat. Among these DigiDestined, one of the following will no longer be alive at the conclusion of the war:

The warrior of steel will be the frame upon which the team builds itself. Only the warrior of steel may wield the weapon that delivers the fatal blow to the D-Reaper's core consciousness.

The warrior of earth will assure the security of Earth. In doing so, the warrior of earth will cease to exist. The warrior of earth will be the protégé of the warrior of steel, though not necessarily the second in command.

The warrior of water will be fluid in character, able to adapt to complex challenges. The warrior of water will help the warrior of wood to grow.

The warrior of wood will be natural in character, one who never abandons the soil. The warrior of wood will keep the warrior of water from flooding.

Note: The original choices for the warriors of steel, earth, water, and wood were Katsuharu, Teppei, Chiaki, and Teruo, respectively. Unfortunately, their homeward Trailmon had an accident. Chiaki and Teruo have equivalents in the alternate dimension, obvious choices for the new warriors of water and wood.

The warrior of wind will provide power to the warrior of thunder. The warrior of thunder will provide power to the other warriors.

The warrior of ice will be the cooler head in panicked circumstances. His cleverness will overcome the most powerful of adversaries.

The warrior of light must be light of words. Analogously, that is all.

Because only a human who has undergone great tragedy can use the spirit of darkness, the desensitized grip of the warrior of ice will carry the spirit of darkness until the true warrior of darkness is revealed.

"And that concludes Wisemon's new prophecy." Bokomon closed his book and returned it to his waistband.

"Hey, wait, you're saying Azulongmon is Wisemon, and Wisemon wrote this prophecy about the D-Reaper?" Ophanimon checked.

Izumi knew that Bokomon refused to speak to Ophanimon, so she spoke on Bokomon's behalf. "Yeah, I think that's what he's saying."

"In that case, we're all fucked." With that said, Ophanimon left the conference room and exited through the double doors of Thundercloud Castle.

Bokomon remained in the conference room with the royal family for another few hours. They caught up on old times (so to speak), but mostly, they discussed their future plans. They all knew that the prophecy had to be taken seriously, but at the same time, they were safe from the D-Reaper while in the digital world. So, when the issue was tossed around to his satisfaction, Junpei decided on the course of least resistance:

"It's not our problem. The Earth sucks; that's why we stayed here. If the D-Reaper assimilates every organism on Earth, it would be bad, but life goes on for us."

"Daddy, that's not very helpful," young Tomoki noted. "You're always telling me to help out around the castle. You tell me to clean up my messes."

"Yeah, but that's my point; this isn't our mess," Junpei argued.

"You tell that to Wisemon," Bokomon dared rhetorically.

Izumi didn't sweat the god-like power. "Fine, that's what we'll do."

Young Tomoki introduced another factor. "What about the other Tomoki, the boy I was named for? He lives on Earth, doesn't he? Shouldn't we help him?"

"Actually son, that's all the more reason not to participate. I already got my glory; it's Tomoki's turn. Besides, when Wisemon made the deal that sent Tomoki home, he said that your mother and I were done, so Tomoki ought to be the one to save Earth." With the decision made, Junpei changed the subject. "Speaking of earth, I feel a little bad for whoever has that spirit. You saw what it said in the prophecy?" Then Junpei heard his D-Tector ringing (or beeping), so he picked it up. As far as he knew, only one person in the real world had his number, so Junpei made the logical assumption about the identity of the caller. "Hey Tomoki, we were just talking about you."

"The name's Kenta. Are you the warrior of thunder?"

"Yeah, but you can call me Junpei…or your royal highness."

Izumi tapped into the call on her own D-Tector. "Call him Junpei; his ego is big enough as it is."

A familiarity popped into Kenta's head, but before he could figure it out, he was obligated to inquire about the new (and very attractive sounding) female voice. "And wouldya mind telling me _your_ name?"

"My name is Izumi, though I am also known as the queen of the digital world, the most beautiful woman of all time, and the most powerful being to ever grace two realities."

"And you're worried about _my_ ego?" Junpei let out under his breath.

"And I'm Tomoki!" young Tomoki shouted into Izumi's D-Tector.

"Why did you think I was Tomoki if Tomoki's with you?" Kenta asked. "Also, you wouldn't happen to be the same Junpei I knew in elementary school, wouldya?"

"Tomoki's name is a long story," Junpei warned. "And I'm probably not the same Junpei, not unless you're the same Kenta I knew in elementary school."

"I get what you're saying. I've met a kid named Tomoki too, but he probably ain't the one you got there; the chances are slim. And that reminds me, that's kinda why I wanna talk to you. This magical know-it-all digimon said that you could teach me how to diet."

"Magical know-it-all digimon?" Junpei cycled the possibilities and determined the implication. "You must be one of the new legendary warriors. Just out of curiosity, which spirit did you get?"

"I'm gonna be the warrior of earth," Kenta declared proudly. Then he heard silence on the other end, as if he had suddenly offended somebody. "Was one of you guys hoping to get the spirit of earth?"

"…No, there's definitely no one here who would've wanted it," Junpei finally answered. "I guess I'll tell you about my diet, and then we can talk about your exercise regimen."

"Gee, I appreciate the exercise advice offer, but I was told to ask an old friend to cover that with me. We both like martial arts, so things should go smoothly."

"Yeah, you probably couldn't use my method anyway." Junpei and Izumi nodded to each other and grinned. "If you're set on exercise, we'll just talk about dieting. My diet starts with lettuce…"

Junpei and Kenta discussed diet options for half an hour, and intermittently, since Kenta said that he liked martial arts, Junpei suggested some of his favorite maneuvers. When Junpei added his name to those maneuvers, Kenta realized that this Junpei was, indeed, the Junpei that he knew years earlier:

"So you're the warrior of thunder? I kinda figured you'd be the warrior of gold, since you were always a golden boy."

"What do you mean by 'golden boy?'" Junpei asked.

"You were the arrogant rich kid. You had everything handed to you, and you tried to buy everybody's friendship with chocolate bars," Kenta recalled.

"Yeah, that _was_ me, but I'm not like that any–"

"–You're the king of your own world," Izumi reminded her husband.

Kenta found another point of arrogance. "And the moves you've added your name to are ancient techniques, invented long before you were born. Not that they're all that great. Your best move is your slam, what's known in judo as Kata Guruma. Most of your moves are useless; they'd only work if they were applied in a very devious manner."

"Moves that shouldn't work sometimes do, if you can time them right, and if you can take the offensive." Junpei could not dispute the "golden boy" contention. "You might be right; maybe I've just gotten lucky."

"If that's what it takes…" Kenta yawned. "I gotta get to bed; my mom calls early to make sure I don't sleep in too much. Thanks for the diet tips, and I'll keep in touch in case I have any further questions."

"Okay kid, talk to you later." Junpei pressed the cancel button on his D-Tector, ending the call.

"Daddy, if he's the warrior of earth, doesn't that mean something bad will happen to him?" young Tomoki questioned.

"Yeah, seriously, why didn't you tell him that he was going to die," Izumi seconded.

"I thought _you_ were going to tell him." Junpei recalled his private vow to avoid arguments with Izumi, so he dropped the blame entirely. "Actually, it's probably better that he doesn't know."

Bokomon, who had been silent in the room while Junpei and Kenta discussed dieting, finally spoke up:

"If Wisemon wishes for the warrior of earth to know his fate, nothing shall prevent it. Similarly, the warriors of thunder and wind cannot avoid their prophecy."

Izumi lifted her feet and slammed them back onto the conference table. "We'll see about that."

**Author's Notes:**

I don't like doing too much Japanese cultural stuff, because I'm trying to keep this series relatable for American audiences. However, it's important to note that in Japan, public universities are more respected and harder to get into than private colleges. I found this interesting as someone who attends a public university.

Musical Inspirations:

Henry's main theme: "Room a Thousand Years Wide" by Soundgarden

Henry's hopeless search: "Rooftops" by Hot Water Music

Kenta's delusion: "Mission from God" by The Offspring

Kenta's "Load" theme: "Hero of the Day" by Metallica

Bokomon's uncertainty: "Everybody's Whore" by Zero Down

Bokomon's main theme: "Famous Last Words" by Billy Joel

Literature Inspirations:

The phrase "shoes to fill" spawned from Atticus Finch's famous quote in To Kill a Mockingbird.

For more information on Kata Guruma (the "Shibayama Slam"): Inspirations:

Kenta refers to heroes from Yu Yu Hakusho, Mobile Suit Gundam, Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, Inspector Gadget, Darkwing Duck, and The Tick.

Cryotek was a repaint of Transmetals 2 Megatron, a large blue dragon, a Target exclusive.

Personal Inspirations:

I go onto the roof of my residence and practice my kicks, sometimes at very odd hours.

Kenta's tiny dorm room with doughnuts and video games pretty much describes how I lived through my freshman year of college. I lost sixty-five pounds since those pastry days.

©2005 by Benjamin Wiseman

Email comments and criticisms 


	4. Don't Download This Song

All Seasons: Wisemon's Actual Ending Series

Part 4: Don't Download This Song

By Wisemon

Digimon is the property of Toei Animation. This series is intended mostly as a release for a burning plot idea, and for an ending that I find far more relatable than that of my Alternate Ending Series. So, the dialogue will be a bit less frequent in this one. To save time, on occasion, there will be some he said/she said type narratives. As is my style, this is all in the past tense, like a fairy tale, a really fucked-up fairy tale. Because I put so much thought into each word, my interests lie mostly in poetry now, which is why I was reluctant to even start this series. Unfortunately, poetry can't satisfy my love of foreshadowing. This series will be absolutely loaded with foreshadowing, but you'll have to find it yourself this time around.

In the last story, the spirits of steel and earth were dished out to Henry and Kenta, respectively, and I delved into the fates of the other Tamers. Junpei and Izumi received the new prophecy from Bokomon, and Kenta and Junpei became acquainted (or reacquainted). For this story, we shift to the alternate dimension. This story contains sexual suggestions, adult language, adult ideas, and other stuff not meant for young readers. If you're under 18, find something else to read, something less educational.

April 30th, 2010, Daisuke Motomiya sat among approximately one hundred and fifty of his peers in an introductory psychology lecture at the private college he attended. No, his grades weren't good enough for a public university, but a private college was better than where he had expected himself to be seven years earlier. In adolescence, nobody would've guessed that the underachiever would've made it into college. Daisuke's future seemed entwined with a noodle cart, a dream that suited him fine—until the days of inflammation. He was stabbed by angels and buried by betrayal. Then friction ignited a fire in his oaken heart and burned the bridge to Heaven's Gate. He found a brighter light of hope in a rainstorm, and henceforth, they remained as the closest of friends. "But nothing more than friends," Daisuke reminded himself.

It had been right after their non-date, right after Miyako had decided that they would be a "cute couple." The next day, Miyako made a new decision. If Daisuke could've recalled it word for word, it would've looked like this:

"You said that we have so much potential, and I agree completely. That's why I think it would be for the best if we wait until we are adults before we start a relationship. We both have short tempers, and if we start dating now, we might eliminate our best opportunity for love. Logically, we should save each other for when we are more mature."

So, Miyako dated other guys while Daisuke waited for adulthood. He continually asked her if they were "ready yet." The reply was either, "Not quite yet," or, "I'm seeing somebody." Miyako encouraged Daisuke to follow her example, to explore other women. As much as Daisuke wanted to date other girls, he felt like he would be cheating on Miyako. "How do people not tear their hair out in these open relationships?" Daisuke asked himself. "Does this even count as an open relationship? She's saving me for last…but she's not really saving anything, so why am I saving myself?" Daisuke kicked the back of the seat in front of him. The ass that filled it stood up to protest, but fortunately, the psychology professor shooed the student back into his seat.

_Un_fortunately, the professor also heard the kick. "Mr. Motomiya, were you paying attention? Would you care to explain to the class Ivan Petrovich Pavlov's conditioning theory?"

Daisuke snapped into student mode. "…Pavlov did associative behavior experiments on dogs. He conditioned them to salivate to a metronome by getting them to associate the sound with feeding. It's kind of like when I almost got eaten by a giant spider. Now I immediately step on every spider, regardless of the fact that they eat other bugs, because I'm afraid that the little spider could become huge at any moment."

"Well, that first part was correct." Daisuke's professor frowned. "Mr. Motomiya, you have been in college less than a month, but you must have gotten pretty drunk already to start seeing giant spiders." On cue, the class chuckled politely.

"No Prof, I don't drink," Daisuke replied. "You know what though? My response has probably less to do with the giant spider that almost ate me and more to do with the giant spider who could disguise herself as a witch."

"That must have been _some_ spider," Daisuke's professor commented mockingly.

Daisuke knew firsthand. "She'd bite your head off."

It was later that evening, around 7:30 P.M., about the time that Daisuke would've been vacuuming DemiVeemon's skin flakes, except DemiVeemon, and every other partner Digimon, had returned to their own world five years earlier. It was agreed that it was for the best. There was no need for the Digimon to be in the human world, and the Digimon preferred the Digital World. So they all went home, but their partners still visited on occasion. For a brief moment, on this Friday night, Daisuke considered paying his old friend a visit, but he knew that he'd regret the decision. Visiting his partner was a necessary formality of friendship, but Daisuke's faith in friendship was waning:

"And I got the crest of friendship. Gennai would be happy to know that the irony wasn't lost on me. I've got one human friend left, and she knows that I want to be more than friends, so what kind of friend is she?" Daisuke corrected himself. "There's also that kid who talks to me through my D-3, but I've never even met him in person. I have no idea what Tomoki looks like. I just know that he's a DigiDestined in another dimension who listens to rock music. Other than that, without a face, he might as well be unknown."

Daisuke reassessed his situation. He was just getting used to living in his dorm room. It was spacious enough for the furniture it came with, but unable to contain much else. Officially, Daisuke had a roommate, but the roommate was always sleeping over in his girlfriend's dorm room. Most of the time, Daisuke had the little broom closet to himself. He spent most of his free time online, downloading both Japanese and American punk music. Recently, his tastes had shifted to hardcore punk bands. His frustrations seemed to imbue an affinity for screaming and machinegun drumming. "Miyako likes punk too, but I doubt that she'd like what I've been listening to lately. So, I'll send her an MP3 attachment by email, and knowing Miyako, she won't hold back her honest opinion." Daisuke went to his computer and began composing an email. He attached "The Killing Tree - Counting to Infinity.mp3" and sent the following message:

"Miyako,

Tell me what you think of this song. While you're at it, tell me when you think you'll be ready to start that relationship we keep talking about. I've got nothing planned for tonight, and I'm ready when you are.

Catch you later,

Daisuke"

Then Daisuke checked his inbox, and he found one new message. When he saw the solicitation warning, along with the sender's fan boy nickname, he immediately deleted the message. "It's just another solicitation from that Wisemon dude. You defeat one ambitious tyrant with a little blue dragon, and suddenly, every Digimon merchandiser expects you to buy their Agumon wallets and Patamon bedspreads. This is like the fifth non-replied email I've gotten from this guy. Some people just don't know when to quit." Daisuke typed a new search into his P2P connection as he awaited his response from Miyako.

Miyako Inoue had started her second year at a prestigious public university as a computer science major. She found that being a girl in a science major made her a pickup line target for every guy in her class, and at first, she loved it. After years of feeling like she didn't get enough attention from her family, nor from the boys in her high school class, finally, Miyako was getting the attention that she deserved. After a while, it got annoying. She quickly came to realize that none of the guys were actually interested in her or what she had to say. All they cared about was the fact that she had a vagina. Initially, this infuriated Miyako, and she rejected every smarmy hook. Eventually, she resolved a way for the used to become the user. In her male-dominated major, in a male-dominated world, men had all the knowledge, and they were only willing to give up so much in order to keep her gender subservient. Miyako found that if she asked nicely, men were willing to divulge a little bit more than they would otherwise. Since guys were constantly in competition with each other, they didn't share with each other. So, their information, tips, tricks, etc. had to be pooled into Miyako's mental database. It was an effective strategy, a fast way to learn. The only problem was that the most knowledgeable of men also knew what their knowledge was worth, and they had to be questioned in the nicest of ways:

"Professor Watanabe, could you please tell me about your research on converting vibrations into chemical storage energy?"

"Miss Inoue, it's really quite simple. I start with a strip of aluminum fastened on one end to…You know, it is rather late to be discussing this in my office. It's Friday night, and I want to go home to my wife and kids." Professor Watanabe was right; 8:00 P.M. on a Friday was not a generally accepted time for a student to be asking about his professor's research.

"I understand; I'll ask you about it again on Monday, and I'll choose a more reasonable hour." Miyako bowed and began her exit from Professor Watanabe's office, but she knew what would happen.

"Miss Inoue, I just remembered; the school forbids me from sharing the details of my research with anyone outside of the faculty. If I breach the confidentiality, we could lose our patent."

Miyako returned to facing Professor Watanabe. "You refuse to tell me anything? But I'm just a lowly undergraduate; what harm could I possibly do?"

"I'm sorry, but I must abide by the school's policy."

"Are you absolutely positive that you cannot reveal any of your research?" Miyako removed her Coke-bottle glasses and flipped back her lavender bangs.

"Well…perhaps we can work something out." Professor Watanabe reached into his pocket, took out his keys, and unlocked the bottom drawer of his desk. Inside the drawer, he had a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a box of condoms.

As a live bootleg completed its download, as Daisuke lost another game of solitaire, he gave up on receiving a reply from Miyako on the same night. "It's Friday night; she's probably out partying, like she's been telling me to do. For once, maybe I'll take that advice…if only I knew where to find a party." Fortunately, Daisuke _knew someone_ who knew where to find a party. He switched to his roommate's computer and checked the instant messages that were conveniently left on the screen. After some sifting, he found a party location, and he wrote down the residence and room number. "We're ready to party; we're ready. I hope you brought lots of spaghetti. Come on in; come to the place where fun never ends. Come on in; it's time to party with Garfield and Friends. Now why do I have that song stuck in my head? Sometimes Daisuke, I swear; if you weren't decently athletic, you could've been a fine young dork."

Miyako's sexual history was a sad one. When she was fifteen, she had taken her own virginity with a vibrator. After receiving years of free computer and programming lowdown from Koushiro, she had begun to talk like the adopted son. When she turned sixteen, Koushiro stopped giving out his expertise for free. Technically, they were each others' first time, but there was nothing romantic about it. Koushiro called it a "quid pro quo," claiming that Miyako had been taking advantage of his "generous nature" for far too long. Her first year of college, Miyako dated and screwed two graduate students in order to gain better knowledge of their research projects.

This time, Miyako knew that she might've gone too far. Professor Ken Watanabe was more than twice her age, and he wasn't exactly the Japanese Tom Cruise. He had less than a centimeter of turf remaining on the back of his scalp, and a long graying mustache that connected to a goatee on his face. Then again, the sex, and consequently, the sex appeal, never meant anything to Miyako, possibly because she had yet to achieve an orgasm, or possibly because sex fell very low on her list of priorities, and likely, the two reasons were related. So, she stood bent over Professor Watanabe's desk, questioning the professor on his research and taking down notes in her notebook. Behind her…she tried not to think about what was happening behind her. She just kept asking questions:

"When you connect the mechanical oscillator to the program chip and the battery, what type of circuit do you use?"

Professor Watanabe had offered Miyako some wine, but the ambitious student had insisted on staying sober. He admired Miyako's dedication, but he would've preferred to enjoy the perks of his position without having to answer her questions. Nonetheless, as was his end of the bargain:

"Parallel, with a feedback mechanism that shuts down the program when the battery is fully charged."

Miyako drew a diagram in her notebook. "Fascinating, and what types of applications could this battery be used for?"

Professor Watanabe was feeling an incredible tightness, like the way he felt with his wife before she had their children. He was so close, but every time he felt his orgasm approaching, Miyako gave him another annoying question. "Just about anything, though I would say that the large voltage and charge storage would be ideal for portable electronic weapons (PEW's)."

Miyako understood the implications. The military would pay the school quite handsomely for the technology, and Professor Watanabe would get a cut. "So let's say, hypothetically, that I wanted to make a PEW. How would I go about connecting a weapon to the battery?"

"The same way you connect any other battery; positive to positive, negative to negative, and…Ahhhh!" Professor Watanabe finally released, but the pleasure was a little too intense. "Ahhhh! Ahhhh! My heart! My heart!" Professor Watanabe clutched at his chest and fell to the floor.

Miyako turned around and watched as the professor kicked and screamed on the floor of his office. Unsure of what to do, she guessed a diagnosis. "Professor Watanabe, are you having a heart attack?"

"Yes…" Then Professor Watanabe stopped moving.

Miyako checked for a pulse, and sure enough:

"He's dead…sucks to be him." Miyako checked her D-3 for the time. "Time of death, 8:27 P.M., and why do I still carry this thing? Oh that's right, it's so I can talk to Daisuke free of charge." With a little help from Tomoki, Miyako had figured out the Digivice dialing system. She also managed to reroute all of her emails to her D-Terminal. "I should probably leave Daisuke alone for tonight. It's Friday, so you never know; my boy just might be getting lucky somewhere."

At approximately 8:30 P.M., Daisuke arrived at the door to the alleged party. "Alright Daisuke, how are you going to get yourself into this party? You'll just have to act like you're cool. Dude, you _are_ cool." Daisuke double-checked his attire. He was wearing chocolate brown knickers, a navy t-shirt, and his old cue chalk blue vest (yes, it still fit after six years, though he was unable to fasten it). "Worn clothes are in style, or so the Levis commercial would have me believe." Daisuke raised a fist. "Well, here goes nothing…" Then he knocked his acceptance request.

A few seconds later, the door opened. A blonde boy in khaki shorts and a t-shirt with a mall shop's insignia stood before Daisuke. The boy's outfit was topped off with a familiar white hat. "Daisuke…is that you?"

"Takeru, dude, I didn't know you went to this school."

"This college was just as good as any other. I'm majoring in anthropology." Takeru opened the door wider, allowing Daisuke to enter. "I'm a little surprised to see you in college. What happened to your dreams of selling noodles?"

"Just like when we fought MaloMyotismon, I couldn't escape from reality." Daisuke looked around Takeru's room. Compared to his own dorm room, Takeru's room was huge, large enough to hold four students, and all their stuff, with some leftover space. To be fair, Takeru _did_ have three roommates, and they were among the party's participants. Daisuke saw a few other trendy looking guys, including his own roommate. Takeru's party wasn't just a kabob fest; he had just as many girls in attendance, and there was one girl Daisuke really didn't want to see.

Hikari took her spot standing beside Takeru. "Daisuke, you've got a lot of nerve showing up here! Takeru, don't you remember what happened on the soccer field? That little punk completely embarrassed us, and he never apologized. Now you're just letting him into our party?"

"Hikari, that was years ago," Takeru replied. "What happened is in the past, and I'm not one to hold grudges."

Hikari looked as though she was about to protest, but then she smiled. "Fine, Daisuke, you can stay. In fact, make yourself at home." Hikari pointed towards a large white cooler atop Takeru's nightstand. "We've got plenty of beer. Why don't you have a few?"

Daisuke knew that Hikari was scheming something, and he knew that he had to keep his wits. "I suppose a few beers couldn't hurt." Daisuke approached the cooler, but he didn't take anything out of it. He turned back to make sure Hikari wasn't watching him. Thankfully, her attention was on Takeru, as she whispered into the blonde's ear. Daisuke grabbed two empty beer cans that had rolled under one of the beds, and he began to mingle with the rest of the party.

Hikari finished explaining the plan to Takeru. "…And once he's completely shit-faced, we get him naked, write on him, piss on him, and throw him out."

Takeru didn't like the idea. "Hikari, that's really cruel. Can't we just put a 'Kick Me' sign on him?"

"If we pull this off, I promise you a blowjob every day for a week," Hikari offered.

"Make it a month."

"For a month, you'd better give him some cuts and bruises."

Takeru became apprehensive again. He searched the room for the cue chalk blue vest, and he saw Daisuke taking practice swings with a roommate's Mizuno MZB271 bamboo bat. "He must be drunk already; doesn't he know that he's indoors?" Takeru watched as Daisuke narrowly missed his laptop. "That idiot might break something!"

"So we have a deal?" Hikari gathered.

Takeru stuck his thumb sideways. "It's a pop fly to the outfield, and Motomiya's out of here."

Daisuke put down the bat and re-grabbed an empty beer can. "Did you see that swing?" Daisuke asked a girl in his immediate vicinity. "When I got thrown off of my soccer team for my overly aggressive style of play, I tried out for the baseball team. I didn't make the baseball team, but the coach said I had a great swing. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Um, okay, I have to go over here now." The girl pointed to a random spot elsewhere in the room, and she walked away.

"She totally dug me." Daisuke took a sip of beer-flavored air. "Dude, how do people drink this shit? This smells like my dad's breath…oh, right. I'd better take another one to make it believable." Daisuke went back to the cooler. Concealing his actions between the cooler lid and his body, Daisuke dipped his empty can into the cooler, and he came away with a can full of slush.

Hikari tapped Daisuke on his shoulder. "How many beers have you had so far?"

"Five, maybe seven, I lost count." Of course, Daisuke knew exactly how many alcoholic servings he'd taken, mostly because he hadn't taken _any_.

"Are you feeling adventurous yet?" Hikari asked with a devilish grin.

"You know me; I'm always up for an adventure. So where do you want to go? File Island? The Digimon Emperor's Base? Digitamamon's restaurant? Whamon's mouth?"

"I was thinking somewhere closer, like Takeru's bed." Hikari took a seat on the edge of Takeru's bed, and she patted the spot beside her, inviting Daisuke to have a seat.

Daisuke warily took the indicated spot. "An adventure in bed? No offense, but that sounds kind of lame."

Hikari put her hand on Daisuke's thigh. "Oh, I think we can have lots of fun in bed."

Slowly, the implication sunk in for Daisuke, but he had to be sure. "Hikari, what are you saying?"

"Duh, I'm saying that I want to fool around with you. You do want me, don't you?"

"Well, I…what about Takeru?"

Hikari directed Daisuke's attention to the opposite edge of the bed, where Takeru was making out with another girl. "We hook up with other people whenever we can. That's how we keep things interesting."

"Swell, but what if I don't want to be a part of that?" Daisuke stopped to question himself (silently). "Daisuke, what are you saying? You've wanted Hikari since you were ten! Right, but not like this, some drunken fling at a party, when you know she's going right back to banging Takeru afterward. Dude, this is the best you can do; take it or leave it. No! This isn't the best you can do. If you hold out a little longer, things will start to look better, and you'll find something meaningful." As Hikari's hand began to make its way toward Daisuke's crotch, Daisuke batted the hand away. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can do this."

"You just need to drink some more," Hikari suggested.

Daisuke chugged his can of cooler slush. "No, it's still not working."

"You just need something stronger. One of Takeru's roommates keeps a forty of malt liquor under his pillow. That'll get you nice and loose."

"No matter how much I drink, there will never be anything between us. Hikari, you were a sunbeam for a subway, a dream for insomniacs. I accepted it a long time ago. What you're offering me right now, it isn't real."

Hikari pressed her body into Daisuke's. "Does that feel real enough to you?"

Daisuke felt it, but it wasn't nearly enough to change his mind. "That's not what I meant. You can never live up to the girl I thought you were. She was the girl I was infatuated with. She was an angel. You, you're just a slut."

Hikari pulled away, though she seemed un-offended by Daisuke's remark. "It's a shame; we'll have to do this the hard way." Hikari stood on Takeru's bed, nearly ramming her head into the ceiling. "May I have the attention of every guy in this room?! Do you see the little jerk in the vest sitting below me? I want every guy here to start beating him down, and then we'll strip him naked and throw him out."

"What's in it for us?" one of Takeru's roommates questioned.

Hikari sucked her index finger, and then she wiped the spit on her shirt. "The usual."

Daisuke saw the swarm coming, all at once, ten boys his own age, all motivated to kick his ass. Daisuke leapt from Takeru's bed and tried to get to the door, but seven of the boys were standing in between him and his exit. The other three boys positioned themselves behind Daisuke, cutting off his opportunity to leap out of a fourth-story window. Meanwhile, the eleventh boy, Takeru, was 69-ing a girl in his bed. "Okay Daisuke, how are you going to get yourself out of this one?" Daisuke shuffled sideways, and he dove to grab an equalizer, the Mizuno MZB271 bamboo baseball bat.

The boys tried to get to Daisuke before he was ready to swing, but by the time they were close enough, Daisuke was coiled. An unfortunate glory seeker was swatted clean in the gut, and he doubled over and dropped to his knees. Then his head hit the ground, and blood began to pour from his mouth. The rest of the boys wisely backed away.

"Internal bleeding…sucks to be him," Daisuke commented. "Well, I'm ready to rock if anybody else wants a piece of me." Daisuke checked the faces. Nobody wanted a "piece." "Come on, you were all so gung-ho a second ago."

"You ruin everything!" Hikari shouted. "The whole point of letting you drink our beers was so you wouldn't be able to pull any stunts."

Daisuke juggled the bat between his left hand and right hand. The move wasn't all that fancy, but it required coordination. "Funny thing about that, I didn't actually drink any beer."

Hikari sighed, and her tone switched from angry to exasperated. "Just go; get out of here. Daisuke, I never want to see you again."

The partygoers parted like the Red Sea, allowing Daisuke to exit with his new toy. Daisuke cautiously took the path, keeping his bat in a readied position.

As Daisuke crossed the threshold of Takeru's room, Hikari gave him one last farewell present:

"I hope you know; you're never going to score."

Daisuke raised his bat in triumph. "I already hit a homerun, just not the sort that you waste your life obsessing about. I'm better than you. I'm better than _all_ of you. I'll say it like I said it last time: hardheaded, fuck you all." Daisuke exited with a wooden bat—and his dignity.

By 10:15 P.M., Miyako had decided what to do with Professor Watanabe's corpse. She opened the window of his fourth-story office. "The school puts an extraordinary amount of stress on professors to complete their research projects. It's not unheard of for professors to commit suicide when they can't meet the deadlines. That cause of death will look a lot better to his family than the actual one. Oh, I should probably put his pants back on before I drop him." First, Miyako put her own panties and pants (yes, she wore pants, navy cargo pants) back on. Reluctantly, she removed Professor Watanabe's condom and disposed of it. Then she put the professor's underwear and pants back on, draped his arm across the back of her neck, and funneled the corpse headfirst through the window.

Miyako scraped her palms together, mentally washing her hands of the incident. "I certainly hope I never have to do that again. Now, who will carry on Professor Watanabe's research? As far as I know, the man worked alone. He was probably paranoid; ambitious grad students will stoop to plagiarizing." Miyako sat down at Professor Watanabe's computer. "I, on the other hand, will give the man his dues." Miyako opened the professor's "vibration to chemical storage energy" programming routine, conveniently left as a desktop icon. "When I write my master's thesis on making PEW's, Professor Watanabe will get his name in my list of references." Miyako inserted a USB storage key (jump drive) into the computer and saved the professor's program. "One man's life's work; it all comes down to a fraction of what this key can hold. Am I wrong to take it as a reminder of our insignificance in the universe? Am I wrong to think that, in the end, a man is measured in kilobytes? Daisuke's the psychology major; he may have a comforting theory relating to human potential." With the program saved, Miyako grabbed her USB key and exited Professor Watanabe's office.

As Miyako descended the steps of her campus's computer science research building, a whim possessed her to check her email. She popped open her D-Terminal, and she read the message that Daisuke left for her. "Intriguing, he sent me a song too, but I'm unable to download it at the moment. He wants to talk about a relationship again, right when I have just acquired the key to what will most likely be an all-consuming side project. I doubt that he will like what I'm going to tell him." Miyako put away her D-Terminal and pulled out her D-3. "The sooner he knows, the better it will be for both of us."

Daisuke walked back to his dorm room with his head held high. As Hikari had so bluntly pointed out, he had failed to "score," but Daisuke saw the bigger picture. A cheap lay, even Hikari, got him nowhere:

"I still would've left that shindig by myself, but I would've regretted giving in. Miyako and I have been friends for all these years. If I wait a little longer, I'm bound to have something strong, something permanent." On cue, Daisuke's D-3 beeped, and he picked up. "You've reached the party line, 230 yen the first minute, 115 yen every minute after that one. My name is Daisuke, and I want to party with _you_."

"Daisuke, that joke is getting old," Miyako told her DigiDestined teammate, though she inwardly chuckled a little still. "I got your email, and I've got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"

"I'm feeling good tonight; start with the good news."

"I just saved a program onto my USB key that will occupy my extracurricular research requirements for the next several years. It's a fascinating program with numerous application potentials."

Whether or not he understood, if it was important to Miyako, then Daisuke cared. "Alright, so what's the bad news?"

"That's also the bad news. See, I'm about to start a project that is likely to consume all of my free time, meaning that there won't be time for 'us.' I'm truly sorry, Daisuke."

"It's alright," Daisuke assured weakly. He tried to find the brighter side. At least the issue wasn't another guy, but the notion of waiting more years, entire years, it was too much. The back of his mind screamed for progress, and this time, he let it escape from his mouth. "No, it's not alright! Miyako, we've known each other for seven years. We helped each other to beat Armageddemon. We helped each other to beat college admissions tests—and everything in between. We're practically married already. There's just one thing missing."

"Daisuke, this is what I meant when I said that we needed to wait until we're more mature. I know what your 'one thing' is. Like a typical man, you're obsessed with sex."

Daisuke was somewhat offended. "Okay, make that two things. I'll have you know; I was talking about trust. I tell you everything, but I know that _you_ don't tell me everything. I know you've done some things that you're not proud of, and you're afraid that I'll think less of you if I knew."

The words struck Miyako hard. It was as if Daisuke knew, and perhaps he did. Daisuke was cursed with an ability to see through deceptions. He didn't always accept the truth when he saw it (like with Hikari), but push always came to shove. Miyako was the one who encouraged Daisuke to use his gift to pursue a psychology degree. She never thought that she'd be on the other end of his ability. "Daisuke…I…I'm going to be very busy in the next few years. I understand if you don't want to wait for me. Perhaps it would be for the best if you moved on."

Daisuke was silent.

"There's one other thing I wanted to ask you."

Just short of tears, Daisuke's voice became a monotone. "Let's hear it."

"How do you measure a man?"

Daisuke searched for an answer across the grain of his new baseball bat. "A man is measured by his choices. Every time he chooses the long-term solution over the quick fix, every time he takes the long hard road to success over the shortcut, every time he does what he knows is good and true, he earns a point. The more points he earns, the more of a man he is. The same is true for women; just replace the word 'man' with 'woman.'"

"Familiar dogma in terms a sports enthusiast can understand…I believe the philosophy to which you're referring is called existentialism." Miyako knew she hadn't done enough to ameliorate the wound she inflicted. "Daisuke, I know you're upset right now, and I know how you get, but please, don't do anything stupid. I still want to be your friend, but if you get arrested…I'm sorry; I should have more faith in you. Occasionally, I forget that you're not the derelict we all thought you'd become…just disregard the last few sentences. I'll see you soon—oh, and thanks for the song." Miyako hung up.

"Like you'll listen to it anyway." Daisuke put away his D-3, and he kept walking back to his dorm. He needed a place where he could be alone with his thoughts. "Come on Daisuke, just you and me, we're going to sort out this mess tonight. Who am I kidding? Nothing's getting solved tonight. I'm just left with more questions."

Daisuke's D-3 beeped again, and Daisuke picked up. "Miyako, are you going to tell me that was a really belated April Fools' Day prank, because if it was–"

"–Daisuke, it's me," Tomoki cut off Daisuke's farfetched hope. "Wisemon asked me to call you because you're not answering his emails. You've been chosen among past DigiDestined to become a new legendary warrior, just like me."

"Dude, what are you talking about? Earth and the Digital World are safe now, at least until the next nuclear holocaust. I'm retired from the hero biz."

"_My_ Earth and digital world aren't safe, so you're getting pulled out of retirement."

"Come on Tomoki, I'm in college now. I don't have time to go running around Podunk Digimon villages, coaching Veemon (as if I really made much of a difference in those fights), dodging digital fireballs, and acting like I have unwavering self-confidence. No, those days are over. Besides, I already rolled over my 401K into an IRA."

"Uh, I don't think Veemon is going to be joining you on this one, but I can't say for sure. If you want the full details, start reading those emails from Wisemon, and tell Miyako to do the same."

Daisuke knew the implication. "You're saying Miyako was chosen for this team too? So if we both agree to do it, it's something we'll have to do together. Well, now you're speaking my language. And as legendary warriors, we would both get elemental spirits, like how you have the spirit of ice?"

"And the spirit of darkness for some reason. Yes, you would both get spirits and spirit suits to go with them. Your spirit would be the spirit of wood."

Daisuke lightly tossed and caught his "new" bat. "Alright, I'm pretty good at handling wood…no masturbation joke intended. What about Miyako?"

"She's getting the spirit of water."

The top of Daisuke's head was suddenly dampened. Seconds later, he was pelted with drop after drop of the last April shower. "Swell, this night just keeps getting better."

"So I guess Miyako rejected you again?" Tomoki assumed.

"Well, not exactly…I wouldn't say 'rejected,' but we're not making progress. How about you and Suzie?"

"Hmm, I hadn't really thought about it, but now that you mention it, my situation is pretty much the same. Seems like I should be getting somewhere, but I don't feel like I am. Last month, for her birthday, I gave her a piece of quartz again, and all that got me was a 'thank you' and a handshake. The more I think about it, the more I want to download a hundred unheard alternative metal songs to my computer. So I know what I'm doing tonight."

"Dude, I like free music as much as the next guy, but you really ought to support the artists and buy a CD every once in a while. Still, it's good to have a friend who appreciates hard rock and hard times." The rain began to beat down on Daisuke harder. "You want to know what happened to me tonight? I learned a couple of lessons. Lesson 1: The fire of courage isn't found in a can or a bottle. The fire is nerves, and even if everyone I used to know kills their nerves, I'm not letting my fire die. Lesson 2: The storm of friendship is refreshing, but true friendship is constant, and it feels like I barely need an umbrella."

"Whoa, I think you need to chill. It's alright to be mad, but once you start talking in heavy figurative language, you've got real problems. That's how Junpei used to be, but then he settled down and had a kid, and all of that crazy angsty stuff disappeared."

"Good for him, but I'm not in a position to start having children." Daisuke struck a nearby fence with his bat. "Tonight, I had a chance to 'chill,' but I'm not about keeping my cool, as much as I try to deny it. I'm about staying on fire, and I believe the best of us are time bombs."

The next morning, in another dimension, on an apartment building rooftop, on a two meter by two meter gym mat laid across the gravel-embedded bitumen, two young men were wired for self-improvement. Henry was dressed in his white gi fastened with his green belt. Henry's pupil, Kenta, wore gray spandex-polyester pants and an orange t-shirt. A month of attempting to get Kenta into shape had tried Henry's patience. Not to say that Kenta wasn't making progress, but the progress was slow. Quite frequently, Henry had to remind Kenta how to do a technique that had already been taught:

"Damn it, Kenta, keep your head tucked on that forward roll!"

Kenta questioned his sensei's choice of educational material. "Why do I gotta know gymnastics? You're 'sposedta be showing me how to fight, right?"

"No, you already know how to fight. My job is to get you into shape so that you can use those grappling techniques again, and maybe show you some new moves along the way."

"Gee, I appreciate your confidence in my abilities, but I ain't the same guy who picked apart the leader of the Menthols. I mean, I've been trying to remember the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu stuff, but it's been so long." Kenta attempted the somersault again, and this time, he avoided landing on his head. "Maybe if we roll for a while, it'll start to come back to me."

"You mean you want me to grapple on the mat with you?" Henry devised a new motivational tactic. "You've still got another five kilos to lose. If you drop that weight advantage, I'll try jogging your jiu-jitsu memory. Have you been sticking to my diet?"

"I'm sorry, but your hardboiled egg white and high fiber cereal diet is even crazier than the salsa salad diet that Junpei told me to use. I ain't eating that stuff every day. I'd be on the can constantly."

"I eat salad too, and other assorted vegetables, but you have to get your protein from somewhere, and hardboiled egg whites are nature's most perfect source. They have few calories, no fat, and no cholesterol. They're just hunks of protein, perfect for growing minds." Henry caught something that he missed. "Wait a minute, who's this Junpei? Kenta, you're my responsibly, and you're going to follow my instructions, and only _my_ instructions. That was part of the bargain I made when I replaced Ryo with you. Now, stand up, and we'll go through kicking and blocking routines again."

"But Henry, I'm tired, and I'm sore, and it's Saturday morning…I'm missing a new episode of Power Rangers: Vice Squad. Couldya just call it a day?"

"Sure, just as soon as the D-Reaper agrees to leave peacefully. Now get off your ass and get ready to block some kicks." Henry approached Kenta and got into a striking stance.

Reluctantly, Kenta got to his feet and got ready to block. "I don't see how this helps me prepare for the D-Reaper."

Henry aimed a left roundhouse at Kenta's cheek, but Kenta blocked the kick before it could connect. "Our spirit suits are resistant to the D-Reaper's attacks, but we didn't get helmets, so you have to be ready to protect your head. Now do you get it?"

"I guess, but–" A roundhouse from the right side cut Kenta short. Kenta fell to his knees, holding the side of his head.

"Kenta, you've got to pay attention! If I were kicking you at full strength, you could have a concussion right now, or worse."

"I'm just glad I ain't wearing my glasses this time. The old frames are already pretty twisted, but that kick would've—that wasn't full strength?" Suddenly, Kenta was genuinely eager to learn, and the Power Rangers were overshadowed by Henry and his roundhouse. "You think you could teach me to kick like that?"

"That's what I've been trying to do for the past month, but you keep quitting these lessons early, claiming that you're too tired to continue. We've got less than a week until the team meeting. Until that time, do you have what it takes to complete a quintessential crash course?"

Kenta sprang to his feet. Mentally, he declared his determination to the next task at hand. No matter what direction the attack came from, he would block it. "Just try kicking me again."

Two hours later, despite Kenta's earlier claims of fatigue, the training session was still in progress. At this point, it was Henry's turn to block while Kenta practiced his striking techniques. Kenta was unable to kick as quickly and as crisply as Henry, but Henry assured that continual practice would improve Kenta's execution. Kenta's punches were even weaker than his kicks. On the whole, Henry had no trouble blocking anything that Kenta threw at him. Eventually, Henry became bored, and he demanded a challenge:

"Are you trying to hit me, or are you just going through the motions? Kenta, I need to practice here too, so don't waste my time."

Henry's encouragement echoed in Kenta's brain. Moving at a speed he reserved for entering a toy store, Kenta stepped in with his left foot, and he nailed Henry in the stomach with his right knee.

Henry jumped back and clutched his stomach. He almost fell to his knees, but not quite. "Wow, that was impressive—really, a very nice shot. I just wish you'd told me we were going to be practicing with knees. I was under the assumption that I only had to guard against punches and kicks…" Henry's tone suddenly switched from congratulatory to peeved. "…because I _explicitly said either punch me or kick me._"

"I thought you karate guys were 'sposedta be ready for anything?"

"_Black belts_ have to be ready for anything, but I never became a black belt." Henry took a seat on the mat. "Let's take a little break so I can recover from that folly. Can you grab the water bottles over by the air conditioning duct?"

Kenta grabbed his white water bottle and Henry's green water bottle and took a seat on the mat across from Henry. Then he handed Henry the designated water bottle.

Henry took a sip of water. "So Kenta, how are things going in tech school? Have you built any engines yet?"

Kenta took a sip of water. "I ain't built shit. I've been told that I don't get to build anything until my last year. Until then, it's all theoretical. They're trying to become more like a public university so they can attract a better crop. I guess I ain't what they had in mind."

Henry took a sip of water. "I'll admit it; public universities aren't all they're cracked up to be. So, what made you decide to throw that knee?"

Kenta took a sip of water. "Dontya watch the dubbed over Ultimate Fighting Championship events? I figure if the best fighters in the world use knees, so should I."

Henry took a sip of water. "Kenta, those guys are professionals, and we just dabble in our free time. Engineers are drawn to martial arts for the stress release, the chance to unleash the aggression created by intricate problems and demanding bosses."

Kenta took a sip of water. "Gee, I thought you were gonna say something about sexual frustration."

Henry stood up. "Sure, I suppose that's a factor too. Are you ready to get back to training?"

Kenta stood up. "Sorry, but I kinda gotta take a leak."

"You know, I could also use a restroom. It's too bad we have to go inside. Now that you're actually trying, I was starting to enjoy being your sensei."

The compliment sparked Kenta's creativity. "Henry, we're on a rooftop, and there's something that I've always wanted to try." Kenta walked to the edge of the roof.

"Kenta, what are you doing?"

Kenta pulled down on the front of his pants, pulled out his pisser, and let his urine fall forty stories onto the streets of Tokyo. "Nobody says that we gotta go inside."

Henry took the air urinal next to Kenta. "We'll call this the engineering solution."

"If that's what it takes to excuse this last April shower." Kenta's piss reached its completion, and he allowed his stretchy pants to snap back to concealment.

"We're into May now," Henry corrected. "April only has thirty days." Henry's urination also concluded, and he re-tucked his wang. Rather than immediately heading back to their training, they took in the Saturday morning skyline. Some buildings had satellite dishes well below their line of sight, while other buildings extended upward farther than their heads could tilt back to see. "Kenta, this is our home. A year from now, I'd like to still have a home."

"Yeah, homes are nice," Kenta haphazardly seconded.

"The industrial sector is almost half gone. It won't be long before the D-Reaper gets into the residential areas. My dad says that Hypnos is working on something, but ultimately, you know that it's going to come down to us."

Kenta knew, but he wanted to know more. "But how are we 'sposedta fight that thing without our Digimon?"

"A good engineer always comes up with something."

"Henry, I ain't much of an engineer," Kenta admitted. "I'm barely surviving in my classes. Don't expect me to build anything that's gonna help anyone. While you've been living in this city, I've been living in fantasy worlds. All the time I could've spent learning about robotics, fuel cells, nanotechnology, teleportation, time travel…I wasted it all in some simulated jungle or castle."

"You haven't missed that much. Reality isn't all it's cracked up to be." Henry's gaze shifted. "Reality is cruel, and sometimes, it's illogical, far more illogical than any fantasy. Sensei used to say, 'Life is suffering.' That's one of the tenets of Buddhism. I didn't want to believe it. Dad used to say, 'Inaction is action.' That's one of the tenets of Taoism. I hated that one even more because it promotes complacence, like 'Everything Zen,' or 'Moumantai.' Taken together, the sayings add up to a terrible truth. Suffering is for those who take action, and peace is reserved for the apathetic." Before long, Henry was staring all the way down. "Ever hear the story about the boy who wanted nothing more than to find a soul mate? He disciplined himself as best he could, under the assumption that the karmic forces of the universe would reward him."

"No, I ain't heard that story. How's it end?"

"The boy realized that he had forged himself with an intensity that would never be matched, making the existence of a soul mate impossible." The street was too far for Henry's perception. All he could see was…infinity.

**Author's Notes:**

I don't like doing too much Japanese cultural stuff because I'm trying to keep this series relatable for American audiences. However, it's important to note that in Japan, public universities are more respected and harder to get into than private colleges. I found this interesting as someone who attends a public university.

Musical Inspirations:

Daisuke's "Load" theme: "2 x 4" by Metallica

Daisuke's song for Miyako: "Counting to Infinity" by The Killing Tree

Daisuke's Friday night pining: "Somebody to Shove" by Soul Asylum

Daisuke and the angels: "Ty Cobb" by Soundgarden

Takeru and Hikari's main theme: "Slither" by Velvet Revolver

Henry and Kenta's rooftop training session: "Halfway There" by Rise Against

Literature Inspirations:

I found "Life is suffering" to be a nice summation of Buddhism in Yoga: Discipline of Freedom by Barbara Stoler Miller.

Cinematic Inspirations:

"Bite your head off" was taken from the pre-elevator scene in Ghostbusters.

Ken Watanabe is a major actor in Japan who's starting to come into his own in America. He starred with Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai, and he was Ra's Al Ghul in Batman Begins. I don't like actors.

Television Inspirations:

Having Daisuke sing the theme to Garfield and Friends was a nod to Lorenzo Music, the late voice actor for Garfield, and more pertinently, The Real Ghostbusters' Peter Venkman (until he was replaced by the inferior Dave Coulier). I intended a catchphrase parallel between Daisuke and Music's Venkman. Similarly, Miyako's lines are meant to somewhat resemble Egon Spengler's dialogue, keeping in mind that she learned to "talk like Koushiro."

For Kenta, I had one UFC guy in particular in mind: Luke Cummo, from The Ultimate Fighter 2 reality show. The comic-reading, weird-food-eating, Jedi-nicknamed dork was the last guy picked, but he made it to the finals. In my personal opinion, he also won the finals, but the judges saw it differently.

Personal Inspirations:

"There's also that kid who talks to me through my D-3, but I've never even met him in person. I have no idea what Tomoki looks like. I just know that he's a DigiDestined in another dimension who listens to rock music. Other than that, without a face, he might as well be unknown." These lines were dedicated to my good friend, UnknownH.

More than once, I have seen a beautiful girl in an openly affectionate relationship, and I've been insanely jealous. Then I've had that same girl hit on me while drunk, and I've had to turn her down. It takes a very mature and responsible person to know that it's not what it seems. There's a difference between the affection in a relationship and the grabbing in a mistake. I don't make those sorts of mistakes.

I abstain from alcoholic beverages; I'm straightedge, or in the phrasing of the term's inventor, I've got straight edge.

I never carry an umbrella.

Like Kenta, I've been taught theoretical stuff as an engineer, but I wouldn't trust me to build anything that's not made out of Legos.

My diet includes salads, assorted vegetables, high fiber cereal with skim milk, fruit, bananas (technically a starch), and hardboiled egg whites. I _am_ on the can constantly.

©2005 by Benjamin Wiseman (the title was changed in 2007)

Email comments and criticisms 


	5. Waffle King

All Seasons: Wisemon's Actual Ending Series

Part 5: Waffle King

By Wisemon

Digimon is the property of Toei Animation. This series is intended mostly as a release for a burning plot idea, and for an ending that I find far more relatable than that of my Alternate Ending Series. So, the dialogue will be a bit less frequent in this one. To save time, on occasion, there will be some he said/she said type narratives. As is my style, this is all in the past tense, like a fairy tale, a really fucked-up fairy tale. Because I put so much thought into each word, my interests lie mostly in poetry now, which is why I was reluctant to even start this series. Unfortunately, poetry can't satisfy my love of foreshadowing. This series will be absolutely loaded with foreshadowing, but you'll have to find it yourself this time around.

Last time, I finally got into a few of the Season 1 and Season 2 characters, namely Daisuke, Miyako, Takeru, and Hikari. The story you're about to read will touch on the "what they've been up to's" of the others. You also got a glimpse of Henry and Kenta's definitive rooftop training session. My engineering students will be out of the picture for a little while, but they'll come back. This story requires the greatest disclaimer of any in the series. We've got sexual suggestions, drug references (marijuana, alcohol, and nicotine), explicit language, and violence. If you're under 18, get your fix elsewhere.

May 2nd, 2010, the king, queen, and young prince of the digital world were on a working retreat at Breezy Village, their version of Camp David. It was a lovely Sunday morning, and Izumi was tending her personal garden (for obvious reasons, she couldn't grow anything in Cloud Kingdom). Curiosity had finally gotten the best of her, and she had planted Takuya's mystery seeds in early March. While she was away, the Floramon had tended the crops, and she had come back to find freshly sprouted…:

"…Something or other, possibly oregano, but it doesn't smell right." Izumi inspected the greenery, but she wasn't a botanist. Her only real clue was that the seeds meant something to Takuya, but that was more than enough of a clue. "Cannabis…I should've known. I planned on trying this stuff when I got to college, but since I'm never going to college, I guess now's as good a time as any. Then again, Junpei probably wouldn't be too happy about it. I seem to recall him giving a speech about how his parents loaded him with antidepressants, and drugs aren't the answer, and all that other shit. Yeah, that's great, but I'm not looking for an answer. I'm just looking for a distraction, something to fill the time while Junpei meets with the mini militia of remaining Mega level digimon. I don't know why everybody's so on edge about this Azulongmon thing. I've gotten thousands of power bonuses from our birth control method. It won't matter if he can become Wisemon, Lucemon, or a cute little Pabumon. No digimon is more powerful than my Mega form, and I don't even know what my Mega form is, because thus far, JetSylphymon has been able to handle anything." Izumi was nagged with a memory of her battle against Kerpymon. "Okay, almost anything, but I was still new to the fusion evolution thing back then; things have changed." Izumi began to harvest her crops. "Now I'm old enough to experiment."

As Izumi separated the leaves from the stems and seeds, an incognito Mushroomon looked on in disgust.

"Okay, now I just need some paper and a way to light it." Izumi reached into her jumpsuit pocket and took out her D-Tector. "Execute: Beast Spirit Evolution!" Izumi became the armored feminine canary, "Zephyrmon!" Zephyrmon flew over to Breezy Village's famed mung tree and shredded off some bark with her claws. Then she sliced off a layer of "paper" with delicatessen thinness and uniformity.

The incognito Mushroomon was irate. "She's defiling the mung tree, and she's using the power of a legendary warrior to do it!"

Zephyrmon minced the leaves with her claws and spread them onto the paper. Then she wrapped the joint and ignited the end with a "Plasma Punch!" Izumi reverted back to her purple jumpsuit human form. Following a mental drum roll, she lifted her concoction to her lips. She took her first puff, and she immediately coughed. "Is this supposed to be doing something? I don't feel any different." She took a few more hits, and then the distortions set in. The giant mung tree seemed to vibrate, like it was shivering. The grass suddenly got higher all around her, as if she were entrenched in jungle savanna, or perhaps, she had shrunk to a fifth of her usual size. It was so hard to distinguish. "Seriously, this is pretty fucked up right here. Not to mention that my head is all swimmy, and I'm barely able to stand. Junpei was right; it's the same as when I got that concussion. I don't think I'll be trying this again…so I might as well get the most of it." Izumi puffed until her joint was half gone. Then a familiar feeling hit her, a sudden itchy, burning, screaming craving for… "Sex, I need sex." Izumi dropped her joint, put it out with the sole of her sneaker, and went to find her husband.

The incognito Mushroomon followed, but he kept his distance. Wisemon was behind in his schedule. He still lacked warriors of wood, water, and light. Due to an unforeseen firewall, he was unable to directly contact his chosen warriors in the alternate dimension. He had been forced to send emails, and his emails were automatically flagged as spam. So, Wisemon had asked his indebted warrior to tell the others to open their emails, but thus far, the emails still remained unopened. As soon as an email was opened, Wisemon would be instantly ripped across the cosmos, right into the chosen warrior's computer screen. It wasn't the most pleasant contingency to attach to an email, but it was a necessary one. Wisemon had planned to recruit the warriors of thunder and wind as his finale, the coup of Xuanwumon's sentimentalities. Since the emails in the alternate dimension were ignored, Wisemon had to abandon his preferred order. He had taken the form of a Mushroomon, lying low in Breezy Village and awaiting the royalty's working vacation. He knew that Izumi would lead to Junpei, and as soon as he got the warriors of thunder and wind together, he would make his move.

On the other side of the mung tree, Junpei (accompanied by young Tomoki) was having a meeting with the legion of remaining Megas. He didn't particularly want to have the meeting, but the Megas insisted that Azulongmon was a problem that required his immediate attention:

"I told you about this over a month ago," Ophanimon recalled. "What have you done? I'll tell you what you've done. You've done jack squat!"

KingEtemon had another way of putting it. "It takes a king to know a king, and I know that it's a king's job to protect his subjects."

Gallantmon used the desperation approach. "Please, we can't fight him without you."

Polkamon, a purple ShogunGekomon with accordion halves on his shoulders rather than tubas, felt no need to kneel to his old friend. "We have known each other a long time, and I have given you a lot of free advice and free music in that time, while asking very little in return. Junpei, I am calling in that favor you owe me."

Junpei leaned back against the mung tree's bark, with young Tomoki at his side, and several Mega digimon surrounding him in intimidating fashion. "Polkamon, what are you doing in this group? You're not a Mega."

"As always, I want to help in any way I can," Polkamon explained. "A king should have the same attitude."

Piedmon frowned disapprovingly at Junpei. "Yes, you should be ashamed of yourself for the way you've shirked your duties."

Junpei pushed off of the mung tree and stood upright. "What the fuck are you talking about? Whatever I've done to piss you off, it hasn't been intentional. Whatever you need me to do to fix it, I'll do it."

Izumi arrived on the scene, stumbling somewhat in her steps towards Junpei, not even noticing the Mega level digimon surrounding him. "Junpei, I need you now." She hugged her husband tightly, pressing as much of her well-developed seventeen-year-old frame into him as she could.

"Bitch, take a number!" Ophanimon hollered. "Junpei's meeting with us right now."

As much as Junpei disliked hearing insults thrown at his wife, and as much as he hated to keep her waiting, he really did not want to anger the Mega level digimon any further. "If you could just wait half an hour–"

"–I said _now_." Izumi broke from the embrace and began to unzip her jumpsuit.

"Hey, don't even think about it! I'm in the middle of a meeting, and Tomoki's right here, and…" Junpei smelled something odd on Izumi's breath, something familiar. It took him a while to recall the scent, but when he did, he was absolutely horrified. "…Takuya…You smell like…That's it; this meeting is adjourned!"

"You can't do that! We're not finished here!" Piedmon complained.

"The queen is…not well, and she's the only one who can defeat Azulongmon." Junpei hugged Izumi tightly, covering up the cleavage she exposed when unzipping. "I have to take care of her, and everybody needs to leave." Junpei looked down at his son. "I mean _everybody_."

Ophanimon, KingEtemon, Polkamon, Gallantmon, Piedmon, young Tomoki, and a Mushroomon walked out of earshot and visual range while making muffled grumbles along the way.

Junpei scooped Izumi into his arms and set her down on the grass by the mung tree. "Why did you do it? It's not like we have any inhibitions to kill. We're still averaging five times per day. You knew this would upset me, so tell me why."

"I…I don't know," Izumi answered. "I guess I just wanted to try it. Now that I know what it's all about, I swear I'll never do it again." Izumi pulled her zipper the rest of the way down. "But for now, my mind is stuck on this, and I need your help…Please help me." Izumi's tone was uncharacteristically vulnerable.

Junpei wanted to be angry, but as he looked down at his wife's immaculate form, as the digital world's most powerful warrior begged for his assistance, Junpei could feel only sympathy and lust. The lust was so heavy; it could make his best decisions waffle and his strongest convictions crumble.

The Mega militia reassembled by Breezy Village's lettuce and carrot gardens. For the incognito Mushroomon, this was a golden opportunity:

"I believe this is all of the remaining Mega level digimon…all in one spot. It is almost as if they want me to take their data. Very well, it shall come to pass." Just as Wisemon was preparing to replace himself with the puppeteer (Azulongmon), he was suddenly whisked away by the opening of an email in the alternate dimension.

"Hey, wait, what happened to that Mushroomon that was standing here two seconds ago?" Ophanimon asked.

KingEtemon shrugged. "Forget about that little toadstool; Azulongmon is the problem. We have to get the king to take action."

Polkamon stomped a webbed foot. "Of all the lame excuses, I can't believe he sent us away saying that Izumi was 'not well.'"

Piedmon drew a sword and raised it. "I'd like to see him adjourn a revolution!"

Gallantmon nudged Piedmon with his lance. "Please, the king is on our side. Save your weapons for Azulongmon.

"Yeah, I agree with the knight digimon," young Tomoki seconded.

The Mega level digimon stared at young Tomoki, and Ophanimon uttered what they all were thinking. "Nobody asked you."

In the alternate dimension, in a public school dorm room, Miyako sat at her laptop desk, and Daisuke stood next to her. The room was just as large as Daisuke's, but Miyako was its only tenant, and the room was more recently renovated. Miyako had a fresh coat of off-white paint, ten electrical outlets, and windows that actually opened. Naturally, Daisuke was jealous. "Dude, your room is nice. I wish I could live in a room like this." Though farfetched, Daisuke hoped that this would lead to a conversation about Miyako taking in a roommate.

"I suppose you would. I'm rather fond of this room myself." Miyako opened her web browser and logged into her school's email account. "The sender's name is Wisemon?" Miyako looked through her email trash bin and found Wisemon's last email. "Are you sure about this? From what Tomoki told you, this sounds like a time-consuming activity, and I really don't have a lot of free–"

"–Miyako, Tomoki is our friend, and he needs our help." Daisuke implemented a persuasion strategy. "You want to be a scientist, right? Well, what kind of scientist do you want to be: the kind who helps people out of a sense of duty, or the kind who helps people if the price is right?"

Miyako paused. She was reminded of Koushiro's change in attitude back in high school. She knew that money was important, but she didn't want to be like Koushiro. "Definitely not the latter…fine, I'll open the email." There was a delay, signified by an hourglass, caused by the distance of inter-dimensional electronic postage.

Wisemon arrived on Miyako's screen in the form of Imperialdramon. "You finally opened the email…better late than never. Greetings, Daisuke, Miyako, and…where is your teammate, the warrior of light? I must have forgotten to tell Tomoki to contact my chosen warrior. Come to think of it, I never gave Tomoki the Digivice code for the warrior of light. Never mind, I will settle that business later. For now, I must hand out the spirits of wood and water. I assume Tomoki already told you about the D-Reaper and spirit suits." Two penlight-sized beams passed through the computer screen and connected with Daisuke and Miyako's D-3's, changing them into chocolate brown and periwinkle D-Tectors, respectively. "Daisuke, no matter what happens around you, you remain true to your nature. You will have the spirit of wood. Miyako, you are fluid in your ability to solve eclectic problems. You will have the spirit of water."

"Wood and water, those sound like spirits that work well together." Daisuke winked at Miyako.

"The designation of the spirits is irrelevant when they're suits, according to Tomoki," Miyako countered. "The spirits of wood and water might as well be the spirits of celery and cottage cheese."

"That reminds me; I didn't eat breakfast. You got anything in here I can snack on?" Daisuke asked.

"That depends; can you eat bran flakes straight from the bag?" Miyako reached into her computer desk and took out a twist-tied bag of bran flakes.

Daisuke took the bag. "No problem, I learned to drink cereal from my dad. On weekends, he drinks his lunch out of a bag."

Miyako shook her head. "He prefers the fermented cereal."

"Miyako, I'm not like my father. Just give me a chance, and you'll find that I'm–"

"–Ahem, I was not finished assigning your tasks," the Imperialdramon told Daisuke and Miyako. "The D-Reaper is rapidly assimilating Tokyo, but not _your_ Tokyo. You must pass through to the other dimension to participate in this war."

Daisuke liked giving orders a lot better than taking them. "Well, since you put it that way, maybe we'll just sit this one out. The whole 'war' thing is a bit of a turnoff, and we don't even know how to get to the other dimension."

"My colleague makes an excellent point. We cannot ameliorate the situation without access to your dimension."

"Would you please let me finish?" The Imperialdramon pressed its face against Miyako's screen in an intimidating manner.

"Sorry," Daisuke and Miyako said in unison.

"You will enlist the services of a Digimon who can travel between dimensions. He will open up a portal for you—in exchange for his freedom from the dimension in which you trapped him."

"You don't mean…" Daisuke looked to Miyako, and she nodded to confirm that Wisemon probably did have in mind the undefeatable enemy.

Miyako didn't like the concept either. "Releasing Daemon from containment could be extraordinarily bad. We have no idea what he will do if he is allowed back into an Earth or a Digital World. The last time we met, much like Myotismon, his goal was the conquest of both worlds. If his goal has remained unchanged, he is still an adversary, and not someone with whom we should be aligning ourselves. Besides, we couldn't free him even if we wanted to; we're unable to open the Dark Gate."

"You had teammates who could perform that feat," Wisemon reminded Miyako.

"They're not exactly our friends anymore," Daisuke explained. "Hikari and Ken were the only ones who could get into the Dark Ocean. Hikari said that she never wanted to see me again…"

Miyako finished the excuse. "…And I said the same thing to Ken."

The Imperialdramon let out an exasperated sigh. "Could you swallow your pride for the sake of the planet? And if you are so worried about Daemon's intentions, why not give him what he wants? The Digital World that was already conquered by the D-Reaper serves no purpose; allow Daemon to be its overlord as part of the bargain. In your spirit suits, you are immune to Daemon's attacks, so you need not fear him while you negotiate. Just make sure that the warrior of light is with you when you enter the other dimension. I will have Tomoki arrange for the rendezvous."

"Hypothetically, the suits will protect us, but how are we going to fight the D-Reaper?" Miyako asked.

"That is an excellent question. Ask it again during the team meeting on May 6th, at noon, at Henry Wong's apartment. You, Miyako, will find the answer particularly interesting." Then the Imperialdramon disappeared from Miyako's screen.

Daisuke looked to Miyako for the final call. "What do you think? Should we take the job?"

Miyako's smile was bittersweet; her new project would have to wait. "You know how I hate not having an answer."

That night, in Junpei and Izumi's Breezy Village honeymoon bed, Junpei had "the talk" with his wife as they lay face-to-face:

"So you learned your lesson, and you're not going to do it again, right?"

"Yeah, but you're not my mother, and you can't tell me what to do. If I wanted to smoke pot again, I would do it."

Junpei treaded lightly. "But you don't want to, do you?"

Izumi was angry at herself, and she was doing her best not to take it out on her husband, and not just because the punching bag wasn't nearly as soft as it used to be. "No, I don't."

Junpei kissed Izumi on the forehead. "That's all I wanted to hear."

Izumi rolled the other way. "It's just that simple? I do something stupid, ruin your meeting, and I'm immediately forgiven?"

"Yeah, that's how it works."

Izumi wasn't satisfied with Junpei's response. "You didn't start out as perfect. How did you do it? How do you keep it up? How is it that this hasn't turned into a huge argument? Couples are supposed to fight; that's the way it goes. We haven't had a major fight yet. I can't help but wonder if we would survive it. Junpei, that's how you measure the strength of a relationship. It's not how often you fuck, or how often you laugh at each others' jokes. It's how you rebound from the yelling, the slammed doors, and the burned clothing. How is it that every stand you take is the same one that I take?"

Junpei ran his fingers through Izumi's hair. "When couples fight, they're putting other issues before their own happiness. I can't do that. Your happiness with me is my highest priority. Maybe you're right about arguments being the true test, but I'd rather not know. I'd rather go the rest of my life without that sort of test than risk losing you. Yeah, I admit it; I'm still afraid of losing you. I still have my insecurities, but I can't help it. I know I've said it before, but this world, this situation, it's all too perfect. So please, don't wake me up from this dream."

Izumi rolled back to Junpei, and her lips met his for thirty solid seconds. "…If you don't wake me, I won't wake you; I promise."

May 3rd, 2010, after nearly an hour of debating, Daisuke convinced Miyako that they should go to Ken for help with the Dark Gate. Unfortunately, they had no idea where to find Ken. Daisuke stumbled into a solution:

"You think he's still carrying his D-3?"

"In theory, if he is, we ought to be able to track him," Miyako proposed.

The DigiDestined of the alternate dimension had gone on to diverse fields. Some fields were greener than others.

Taichi had connections, and he had been given a cushy government job straight out of college. He was a diplomat to the Digital World, and his day-to-day work was nearly nonexistent. He had insisted on an assistant, a technical advisor with expertise on everything digital. In truth, ever since the high stakes card trick in Myotismon's castle, Taichi knew that he couldn't make a sound decision without Koushiro. Fortunately, Koushiro made a great impression with the department during his interview, and they adopted the tech expert.

Matt's band, the Teenage Wolves, became rather successful. In fact, they became the most successful teenage rock band in Japan. In 2007, they went on tour with their Australian counterpart, Silverchair. By 2010, the Teenage Wolves released three full albums and one EP.

Sora went to college, and she graduated with a horticulture degree. Then she became a waitress. She never could make up her mind.

Jyou completed the plan that his parents laid out for him, but he made a few detours along the way.

Mimi tried to find success as a pop star in America, and she did, but it didn't last. She sold more albums in one month than the Teenage Wolves could sell in six months, but she was just a fad. The lesson: rock fans are loyal, and pop fans aren't.

Takeru and Hikari became Abercrombie/beer pong/whiny pop-punk stereotypes.

Cody joined the police academy. Because his father was killed in service, he received special privileges. Despite only being fifteen, he was given a license to drive a squad car, and he was given lessons at a shooting range. The officers figured that it ran in the blood; Cody was a natural.

Ken dropped out of high school, assuming that he could rest on his natural intelligence. He planned to start a software business, but he needed money for entrepreneurship. So, he got a job as an IT guy at a small company, but he didn't accumulate any money. He spent it all on booze, cigarettes, women, and other people's software (video games).

Around 7:00 P.M., Daisuke and Miyako found themselves in front of an apartment building in the red light district. The area made Daisuke nervous, and he was somewhat hoping that it wasn't the home of an old friend:

"Miyako, are you sure that Ken lives here?"

"The tracking function on this D-Tector works analogously to the one on our D-3's (after all, the D-Tectors _were_ our D-3's). I am absolutely positive that there's a DigiDestined's Digivice in there; it just might not be Ken's. If it isn't, since you already know where to find Hikari–"

"–Ken's in there; I'm sure of it. The dot on your D-Tector screen is black, the same color as Ken's D-3."

Of course, Miyako knew that all of the pixels were either unfilled or black on her D-Tector. "See, this is why I can't take you seriously."

Daisuke sighed. "Come on, let's go in." Daisuke and Miyako entered through the front doors of the building. Then they started to walk up the building's staircase. "Why can't we take the elevator?"

"It would be too hard to distinguish the relative strength of the signal." When they reached the fifth story, Miyako grabbed Daisuke's wrist to prevent him from ascending farther.

"Dude, what's the big idea?"

"This is our floor." Miyako opened the door to the hallway and stepped through.

"Right…I knew that." Daisuke followed Miyako.

Another unfulfilling day at work, and another bottle of sake was ready for Ken when he came home. He used to get wasted by going out to the bars, but he wasn't able to do that anymore. He couldn't risk infecting anybody else. His disease kept him in his apartment. He had a bedroom that doubled as a living room, and a tiny mildewed bathroom that doubled as a kitchen. He stared at the bottle of fermented rice as he smoked an unfiltered cigarette. It made him wonder:

"How's it going to end? Will it be the lungs? Will it be the liver? Will it be the throat? I'm not going to live long enough to find out, and that suits me just fine." There was a knock at Ken's door. Ken kept on puffing. "I must be hearing things." There was a second knock, followed by a third. "That's not in my head; I'm still sober." Ken put out his cigarette and went to the door.

The door flew open, and Daisuke nearly passed out. He quickly held his nose. Miyako wasn't as quick to respond, but fortunately, Daisuke caught her (with the non-nose holding arm) before she hit the floor. "Ken, nice to see you…not so nice to smell you. Can we talk outside for a while?"

"Daisuke, is that you?" Ken blinked a few times. "I guess…what do you want to talk about?"

"I was thinking we could catch up on old times. Then maybe we could watch the complete first season of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on DVD. Then maybe we could go out to one of those all-night diners, order up some waffles and scrambled eggs, and leave a 10 tip. Then maybe we could take a long walk on the beach…the beach of the Dark Ocean."

Ken nodded. He deciphered the modulations in Daisuke's tone well enough to know that only the last part was to be taken seriously. "Let me grab my D-3, and I'll meet you outside the apartment. I think Miyako could use some fresh air."

Daisuke maintained the voluntary nasal congestion. "Actually, we could both use some fresh air. Dude, no offense, but your apartment reeks!"

It wasn't easy for Daisuke to get Miyako to walk with him in her fainted state. He was essentially dragging her by the arm draped over the back of his neck, trying to make it look like she was still semi-conscious in case they ran into any local rapists. Fortunately, he could take the elevator on the way down, but there were still the steps after the front doors. Once they got outside, the wind blew, and it didn't matter.

"What transpired while I was unconscious?" Miyako asked.

"We're all set." The doors opened behind Daisuke. "The DigiDestined formerly known as Emperor is going to take us to the Dark Ocean."

"Would you mind telling me _why_ I'm going to take you to the Dark Ocean?" Ken stepped outside.

"We need Daemon's assistance to travel between dimensions," Miyako explained. "In another dimension, there's this computer program that deletes data indiscriminately, and it's conquered half of Tokyo. As DigiDestined, we have to stop it."

Ken stuck a fresh cigarette in his mouth and lit it. "Daemon tried to harvest the Dark Spore in my head. Do you know what that thing did to me?"

"I heard this story. The Dark Spore made you a genius." Daisuke coughed. "I guess the geniuses didn't get the memo. This generation is the one that doesn't smoke."

Ken put away his lighter. "Cigarettes don't make any difference, aside from the fact that they take away from my liquor fund. I've got a terminal disease, and only about five years to live, ten if I'm lucky."

"The Dark Spore gave you a terminal disease?" Miyako hypothesized.

Ken took a long drag, as if he were trying to decide on something critical. "That's right."

"Dude, that totally sucks!" Daisuke commented.

Ken tapped his ashes. "It sure does, but I've accepted it. On the plus side, I've got more than enough darkness to get the Dark Gate open for you. Are you sure that's what you want?"

"I suppose, but we were told to wait for the warrior of light," Miyako recalled. "The fundamental flaw with that logic: how does the warrior of light know where to find us?"

Ken flashed a yellow smile. "How do you know that I'm not the warrior of light? Darkness and light are opposites, but you can't have one without the other. The one who opens the Dark Gate might just be the warrior of light."

"But you're not the warrior of light," a voice in the distance called out, "Because _I'm_ the warrior of light. No denying that we're opposites, and seeing what you've become, I'm proud to stand where I stand." A young man stepped under a streetlight's glow, allowing his old teammates to view his face. He was dressed in faded blue jeans and an indigo t-shirt. He was somewhat buff; his chest and arms looked like they had been through regimens of pushups and pull-ups.

Miyako stared for a while at her former sidekick. This was not the androgynous boy that she remembered, not that she found him remotely attractive, but she assumed that some girls were attracted to the crew cuts and muscles. "Cody, how did you find us?"

Cody held up a pale blue D-Tector. "Tomoki told me about the tracking function."

Daisuke knew his old team's dynamics, and he feared an argument between Cody and Ken. "Cody's the warrior of light, mystery solved, let's be on our way. We don't want to keep the nice demon waiting."

With half of its original length gone, Ken dropped his cigarette and stomped it out. "Fine, but I'm warning you, Daemon might not be all that cooperative. The only reason I'm not telling you that you're crazy is because I've seen him do it before. A long time ago, Wormmon and I were traveling with this kid named Ryo…Wait a second, where are your Digimon? You're not going to fight this D-Reaper thing without your Digimon, are you?"

"That's precisely what we're going to do," Miyako answered. "The D-Reaper isn't a Digimon, and our Digimon's attacks won't work on it. We have to devise a special strategy.

"I wish I were still interested in that sort of thing, but I killed all of my motivational nerves. Now I'm just a lump, a shell of a man." Ken held up his D-3, and the Dark Gate began to appear. "Before you guys go, just in case you don't come back, or just in case I die before you come back, there's something that I want you to know."

"Is this about how the three of us punched you?" Daisuke asked. "Since you're dying and all, if you want, we'll let you have a free shot, as long as it's above the belt."

Ken ignored Daisuke's offer. "Since we parted ways, I've been to a lot of bars, I've tried a lot of drugs, and I've slept with a lot of women. The time that I spent as a DigiDestined, fighting by your side, or rather, giving orders to my Digimon by your side, that's still the best time I ever had. That's the time that no amount of alcohol can make me forget. All the other shit went away, like a hangover, but you guys were friends through thick and thin, like…like…"

"…Like an addiction," Daisuke offered.

"Right, just like an addiction. I wish you guys the best of luck, even you…" Ken smiled at Cody. "…No hard feelings. I've got only kindness right now, sober kindness."

"Yet, you don't sound all that sober. Instead of preoccupying yourself with how much time you have left, and what you can do to make it go by faster, you could try doing something productive with what you have left. It's just an idea." Daisuke stepped through the Dark Gate."

"Ken, what we had was…it wasn't anything, but you were still a friend, and I hate seeing you like this. Daisuke's right; it's not too late to contribute something to this world. How about a Kimeramon that attacks Spyware?" Miyako paused as she refocused her argument. "Being a genius doesn't give you the right to indolence. If anything, you have a responsibility to use your gift. For me, please try." Miyako stepped through the Dark Gate.

Cody didn't say anything. He just followed his teammates through the Dark Gate.

Ken watched as the Dark Gate began to close. When the portal was 25 gone, he saw Daisuke, Miyako, and Cody running back through to his side. "Back so soon? I don't blame you for waffling. It doesn't take a genius to know that Daemon's likely to barbecue you."

Daisuke ran his hand through the back of his hair. "Dude, we're still going, but we…we need you to come with us."

"How come?" Ken inquired.

Daisuke curled a lock around his index finger. "Well, the thing is…Miyako, could you explain it to him?"

"It's really quite simple. We are unable to open the Dark Gate. Despite being able to shift between dimensions, Daemon is also unable to open the Dark Gate. If you recall, that was the reason you put him in the Dark Ocean. Ken, you incarcerated him, and you're the only one who can release him." Miyako pushed up her glasses. "See, it's simple."

"Please don't compare Ken to a police officer," Cody requested. "I take that as an insult."

"Fine, I'll come with you. It's not like I've got anything to lose." Ken held up his D-3 and opened the Dark Gate to approximately two meters in diameter. Then he walked through, and Daisuke, Miyako, and Cody followed.

That night, in Junpei and Izumi's mung tree cabin, there was no talk of living dreams. As usual, Junpei and Izumi lay in bed, completely naked. On this night, the conversation of the sexual intermissions overshadowed the pleasure. The day had brought another meeting with the Mega level digimon, and a renewed sense of danger:

"I'm worried," Junpei admitted. "The Mega level digimon are refusing to leave Breezy Village until Azulongmon arrives, until _we_ confront him. With the way the gas dragon has been going through Megas, it's only a matter of time before he arrives, and we're forced to fight him."

Izumi reached out and began rubbing Junpei's chest. "There's nothing to worry about. Yeah, he's got the data of a hundred Mega level digimon, probably closer to two hundred now, but I've got thousands of power bonuses. Seriously, I can handle this." Izumi knew that Junpei wouldn't let her fight alone. "_We_ can handle this."

Junpei returned the tactile favor. "I'm worried about what Bokomon said. Azulongmon controls Wisemon, and you remember Wisemon? He appeared as that man, and that man threw down lightning bolts and took our spare spirits. Then he opened a portal and sent Tomoki home. We're talking shape-shifting, teleportation, and quite possibly dream invasion, and now we're talking god-like power. If we try to fight something like that…we'll get crushed."

"Remember what the prophecy said? Now you're a god too." Izumi rubbed Junpei's pectorals more fervently. "At least, you're built like a Roman god."

Junpei continued to reciprocate his wife's caresses. "Hey, you're not bad yourself." Junpei's other hand reached under his pillow and pulled out a book. "I know your birthday is not until tomorrow, but I wanted to give you this now, just in case tomorrow doesn't go so well. I found this book in Nefertimon's library, and she said I could keep it. This book is a collection of Petrarchan sonnets in their original Italian, allegedly some of the greatest love poems ever written. I wouldn't know, because I don't speak Italian, but I know someone who does."

Izumi took the book from Junpei's hands. "It's a nice thought, really, but after all these years, I've forgotten most of the Italian that I learned. This wasn't the kind of gift that I was expecting for my eighteenth birthday, but I guess surprises are your trademark." Izumi put on a smile for her husband.

"True, there's a lot more to me than meets the eye…and you can't judge a book by its cover. Do me a favor and open it."

Izumi opened the front cover and found a gold necklace connected to an emerald pendant. Then her smile became wholehearted. "Now that's a birthday gift! Are you going to tell me how you got this?"

"You don't want to know the details, but it involved Whamon's digestive tract."

"Yeah, that's already too much information." Izumi gave her husband a quick kiss. "Still, I knew you wouldn't disappoint me. You always have a trick up your sleeve."

"That doesn't make me a god." There was noticeable anxiety in Junpei's voice.

Izumi went back to rubbing Junpei's chest. "It makes you the next best thing."

"Then you would be the god of a god, the deity to whom I willingly sacrifice." Junpei slid his body down into the ocean of their sheets, and his face anchored into a harbor. Then he went to shore to request a blessing. "Before I begin, could you try on the necklace for me?"

Izumi hooked the gold chain around her neck, and the emerald pendant dropped delicately into her cleavage. The rubies contrasted majestically with the emerald, like a three-bulb string of Christmas lights. "Does it look good?"

Junpei began to cry. "Absolutely…divine…my savior."

**Author's Notes:**

Musical Inspirations:

Daisuke and Miyako's excursion: "Torches" by Rise Against

Junpei's marijuana lecture: "Bad Magick" by Godsmack

Ken's lifestyle: "The Science of Selling Yourself Short" by Less Than Jake

Ken's "Load" theme: "The House Jack Built" by Metallica

Cody under the streetlight: "Proud" by Korn

Junpei's agreement: "What If I Do?" by Foo Fighters

Television Inspirations:

I'll admit it; the Junpei and Izumi "dream" lines were partially inspired by Cowboy Bebop. Subconsciously, it might have something to do with the versatile Steven Blum being the voice actor for Junpei and Spike Spiegel.

Personal Inspirations:

I often eat bran flakes straight from the bag. They're quite possibly my favorite food (among the foods that I allow myself to eat).

I haven't read any Petrarchan sonnets, but I wrote a pretty good one about America's obesity problem.

©2005 by Benjamin Wiseman

Email comments and criticisms 


	6. Good Old Days

All Seasons: Wisemon's Actual Ending Series

Part 6: Good Old Days

By Wisemon

Digimon is the property of Toei Animation. This series is intended mostly as a release for a burning plot idea, and for an ending that I find far more relatable than that of my Alternate Ending Series. So, the dialogue will be a bit less frequent in this one. To save time, on occasion, there will be some he said/she said type narratives. As is my style, this is all in the past tense, like a fairy tale, a really fucked-up fairy tale. Because I put so much thought into each word, my interests lie mostly in poetry now, which is why I was reluctant to even start this series. Unfortunately, poetry can't satisfy my love of foreshadowing. This series will be absolutely loaded with foreshadowing, but you'll have to find it yourself this time around.

This story is a continuation of the last one, and it's loaded with references to the television series and the Millenniummon storyline (part of the reason for the title). I expect that you read the last story. Just in case you didn't, this is where I left off: Miyako, Daisuke, Cody, and Ken were at the Dark Ocean looking for Daemon. Junpei and Izumi were preparing to fight Azulongmon. Their fate shall be exposed. If you're under 18, maintain your innocence by ceasing to read this.

Miyako, Daisuke, Cody, and Ken walked for nearly two hours along the beach of the Dark Ocean. Miyako had her D-Tector set to detect any digital life. Though she deigned to explain to Daisuke and Cody how to use the function, they preferred to rely on Miyako's expertise.

"Miyako, have you found anything yet?" Daisuke asked.

"For the fifth time, I'll let you know when…Eureka!"

Ken pulled a cigarette from his mouth. "Eureka? What happened to 'perfecto'?"

"'Perfecto' didn't accompany Archimedes' discovery of the volume displacement principle." Miyako assessed the information on her periwinkle D-Tector. "Fascinating, we've got multiple Digimon coming our way. They appear to be of equal strength, so logically, none of them are Daemon." Miyako pointed toward the Dark Ocean. "They'll be emerging from the water. We should have visual contact in approximately six seconds."

"Then it's time to suit up." Daisuke held up his D-Tector. "Execute: Spirit Suit!" A chocolate brown jumpsuit with cobalt blue cuffs and collar formed around Daisuke.

Cody held up his D-Tector. "Execute: Spirit Suit!" A pale blue jumpsuit with crimson cuffs and collar materialized on Cody.

"But we haven't run any tests to verify the effectiveness of these suits." Miyako held up her D-Tector. "I suppose we'll have to settle for a field test. Execute: Spirit Suit!" Miyako was surrounded by a periwinkle jumpsuit with pink cuffs and collar. "Blehh, pink cuffs! I hate pink!"

Daisuke nodded. "Pink is totally overrated. I mean, it looks great when you're a twelve-year-old boy, but then you learn that there's less to pink than–"

Three Divermon arrived on the shore. As was their shtick, each one was carrying a spear.

"Miyako, that was 6.2 seconds," Ken noted.

Miyako excused herself. "I said _approximately_."

One Divermon (presumably the leader) spoke on behalf of his gang. "You have a female. Give us your female so that we may procreate with her. If you do not give us your female, you will all suffer."

Ken took a drag on his cigarette. "Now that's a rarity, a pickup line I _haven't_ used."

"That _was_ a pickup line, wasn't it?" Daisuke punched his fist into his palm. "Listen here, you eel-faced Jacque Cousteau wannabes, nobody, but nobody, but me uses pickup lines on Miyako!" Daisuke charged across the sand toward the Divermon. Then he slipped into a baseball slide, just as the Divermon tossed their spears. If he hadn't slipped, he would've been impaled. As he rose from the sand, he saw the Divermon attempting to retrieve their spears by tugging on the attached ropes. It would take them a little while; the spearheads were jammed in the sand. Daisuke pulled out his trusty pocketknife, and he slashed the ropes off of all three spears. Then he turned back to his old teammates. "Did you guys see that? Come on, am I good or am I good?"

"You were almost killed!" Miyako reminded the gutsiest of the DigiDestined.

Daisuke grabbed one of the Divermon's stuck spears and began to pull it out. "You know what they say about almost? Horseshoes and hand grenades." Daisuke moved his hands up to the top of the stuck spear and tugged for all he was worth. "Just trust me; I know what I'm doing…" The spear broke off at the bottom, leaving the spearhead in the sand, and leaving Daisuke holding a stick. "…And I meant to do that." Daisuke examined the splintered spear shaft in his hands. It was about two and a half feet in length, which was long enough for Daisuke's purposes. He held it like a baseball bat, and he took a few practice swings. "This will do." Daisuke glared at the Divermon. "Come on, you guys want Miyako? You have to go through me first."

The Divermon leader spoke up again. "We wanted the girl who came here six years ago, the one who freed us from captivity. We wanted Hikari, but we'll settle for this girl with glasses."

Miyako sighed. "I've heard that one before."

Daisuke watched as the Divermon rushed toward him. "One fish, two fish, piñata fish." As Daisuke prepared to swing, the stick in his hands began to glow.

"Shouldn't we help Daisuke?" Cody asked Ken.

Ken took a puff before responding, and while un-mouthed, he made sure to point his cigarette in Cody's direction. "He wants to do this on his own, so just let him. You want a cig?"

Cody coughed deliberately, as if it wasn't Ken's intention to shove smoke in his face. "No, I don't smoke," Cody answered with the utmost curtness.

"Fine, more for me." Ken took another puff.

Daisuke swung at the first fish belly within range, and watched as his stick sliced an inch deep through the Divermon's skin. "Well, this is going to be easier than I thought."

Miyako observed Daisuke's maneuver with keen interest. "Fascinating, the stick appeared to gain some sort of destructive energy while Daisuke held it…and Daisuke was given the spirit of wood. Perhaps my earlier hypothesis of the spirit suits being offensively ineffectual was incorrect. I have the spirit of water, and we're walking along a beach. There must be a way to test my new hypothesis." Miyako smacked herself across the forehead. "Of course…Daisuke, drive them back into the ocean!"

Daisuke kept swinging, but the Divermon had gotten wise. While the sliced Divermon backed away, the other two snuck up behind Daisuke. Daisuke narrowly pulled off a circular swing, which kept his adversaries at bay, but he knew that the odds would catch up to him eventually. "Miyako, I'm not in a position to drive anybody anywhere."

"If you want something done right…" Miyako ran up behind one of the Divermon, slapped him on the back, and ran toward the water. "Tag, you're it!"

Coincidentally, the Divermon leader was the tagged Divermon. "She's the one we want! Forget the punk with the stick and grab the girl!" All three Divermon gave up on Daisuke and chased after Miyako.

Miyako went three meters into the ocean and turned around. She placed her hands on the water's surface. She concentrated on the water, and she attempted to channel her spirit, until she found herself laughing at the scientific implausibility. With a sense of dread and failure, she looked up to see that, indeed, the Divermon were approaching. Her mind flooded with panic, and she stared at the approaching Divermon like a deer in headlights. Then the Divermon stopped in their tracks. In a hockey stroke, all six of their legs had been sliced off.

Daisuke held up his stick in triumph. "That was a nice distraction. I know I've said this before, but we make a really good team."

Miyako felt her confidence returning, and she saw the water under her hands glowing. She gazed up at Daisuke. "That wasn't a distraction. Just trust me; I know what I'm doing. For starters, I'm retracting my celery and cottage cheese theory." The water around the legless Divermon began to boil, and the Divermon disintegrated into data. Miyako pulled out her D-Tector. "Fractal Code: Digitize!" The data poured into Miyako's periwinkle D-Tector. Then she walked out of the water.

Daisuke stared wide-eyed at Miyako. "But…but…that was my fight, and that was my victory. I was supposed to take their data. Not that I knew how to take their data, but I would've figured it out."

Miyako put her hand on Daisuke's shoulder. "Aren't you going to ask me if I'm okay?"

"Are you okay?" Daisuke asked haphazardly.

"All systems nominal; now let's find Daemon." Miyako stepped through the sand and continued in the team's traveling direction. Her teammates followed.

Twenty minutes later, Ken was pulling the last cigarette from his pack. "Guys, we've been walking on this beach for over two hours, and we don't even know if we're heading in the right direction. I think it's time for us to quit."

"Dude, you know how I hate to quit," Daisuke reminded his old friend.

"That's something you and Ken have in common." Cody was referring to Ken's addictions, but everybody ignored him anyway.

"Ken's logic is sound." Miyako checked her D-Tector's screen for the fiftieth time. "I'm still not picking up anything on my D-Tector, and that's the only method at our disposal for finding Daemon."

Daisuke had a brainstorm. "Instead of looking for Daemon, let's make Daemon come to us!"

"That's a nice thought. Now how are you going to pull it off?" Ken lit the last cigarette in the pack, and dropped the empty pack on the sand.

"Ken, I let you drop the butts, but now you're just littering for no good reason. Pick that up!" Cody ordered.

"Well, I don't know _how_ to make Daemon come to us," Daisuke admitted. "I just know that it's a great idea."

Miyako pushed up her glasses, settling into her devising mode. "I know how to enact this plan. Ken, open up the Dark Gate. Open it to its greatest potential diameter, and Daemon might be able to see it from wherever in this world his current location happens to be."

"As you know, my ability to open the Dark Gate depends on the darkness in my heart. If I had to guess, I'd say that the gate size depends on the _amount_ of darkness," Ken repeated the phrase in his head, "If it's even possible to quantify darkness. Frankly, I don't believe in any of this bullshit. You guys aren't here right now, and I'm not out of cigarettes in the middle of some digital beach. This is just another drunken delusion. Right now, I am completely hammered in my crappy apartment, and I wouldn't have it any other way." A black beam shot out from Ken's D-3, and the Dark Gate began to open. Five seconds later, the Dark Gate was five meters in diameter and still growing rapidly.

Daisuke understood. "Nice work, Ken. Just keep thinking negative, and we'll have a Dark Gate the size of the Tokyo Dome."

Miyako went back to checking her D-Tector for any approaching digital life. "If Daemon is within even the remotest regional proximity, he won't miss our giant hole in the sky."

Ten minutes later, Daemon approached the fifty meter wide Dark Gate. He recognized the DigiDestined, and he flew right over them, right into the Dark Gate.

Daisuke stared dumbfounded as Daemon disappeared through the Dark Gate. "That wasn't how I pictured this happening."

Miyako shook her head. "Hindsight's twenty-twenty."

"Weren't you supposed to negotiate for his release?" Ken recalled.

"That was the plan. I think we're going to need a new plan." Daisuke snapped to a realization. "Come on, we've got to go after him! Besides, he's back in our world now."

Miyako saw a bright side. "And we had to go back through the portal anyway. This saves us a step."

Ken was skeptical. "How are you going to convince him to help you now?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Now let's go!" Daisuke waved his comrades onward. Then he dashed through the Dark Gate.

Daisuke's teammates followed hesitantly. "Daisuke's the leader again?" Ken questioned.

"Daisuke _thinks_ that he's the leader," Miyako replied, "but we all know that I'm the leader."

Miyako, Cody, and Ken walked through the Dark Gate.

On the other side of the Dark Gate, Daemon hadn't remained stationary after entering Ken's neighborhood. Daisuke had decided that it was best to wait for his teammates before attempting to track down the incendiary Digimon. The delay was brief (no more than thirty seconds), but it was enough time to make Daisuke a little worried. "I thought they were right behind me."

Miyako, Cody, and Ken stepped through. Then Ken began the process of sealing the gate (not an easy task for such a large gate). "I've done my part; I got Daemon out of the Dark Ocean. I'm going to seal up this gate, and then I'm going to need a drink and a new pack of smokes. Maybe I'll see you guys again sometime before I die. You can visit anytime you want, but my apartment is always going to smell."

Miyako was sympathetic. "Ken, don't throw your life away like this. Whatever disease the Dark Spore gave you, I'm certain that modern science could find a cure. In the meantime, quit your habits, and save your money. That way, when they find a cure, you'll be–"

"–Miyako, not every disease has a cure. Take your faith in science to somebody who still gives a shit." Ken accidentally increased the portal size. "Damn it, look what you made me do!"

Daisuke walked up to Ken and stood beside his old fusion partner, overriding the bad stench signals that his brain sent him. "Let's do this together, just like the good old days." Daisuke held Ken's free hand (the one not holding his D-3), and "together," the old teammates closed the massive Dark Gate in under a minute. "Dude, was that so hard? I bet you still have it in you—the crest of kindness. How would you like to help us save another planet? Tomoki has an extra spirit, and it seems to me that you were meant to hold it."

Cody spoke up. "Forget it. If Ken's in, then I'm out."

Ken pulled his hand away. "You just don't get it. I'm resigned to my fate. All that's left is to try and make it go by as quickly as possible."

"Ken…it was nice to know you." Miyako examined her D-Tector screen. "Daemon is still within a few city blocks. If we hurry, we ought to be able to catch up to him." Miyako ran off in her D-Tector's indicated direction, forgetting that she was in the red light district, the time was approximately 10:00 P.M., and she was an attractive young woman dressed in a periwinkle jumpsuit.

Cody didn't even give Ken another glance. He followed Miyako.

Daisuke decided to give Ken one last piece of encouragement. "Just remember, it's not over yet. Do you want to be remembered as a disappointment?"

Ken was silent. He watched as Daisuke sprinted to catch up with Miyako and Cody. He couldn't tell his old friends. He would've lost the last shred of self-respect that he had. "Beware the darkness." That's what Devimon had told him. Darkness came in many forms. Darkness was alcohol. Darkness was nicotine. Darkness was marijuana. Darkness was methamphetamines. Darkness was unprotected sex with promiscuous women. Darkness was the AIDS virus. "I didn't think it could happen to straight guys," Ken recalled. "I thought only guys like Ryo picked up that shit. It's one of those life lessons." Ken walked back to his apartment. When he got to his bedroom/living room table, he began downing shots of sake.

Twenty minutes later, Miyako, Daisuke, and Cody caught up to Daemon. To their surprise, Daemon wasn't tossing fireballs at anything that moved. Rather, he was sitting atop the entrance canopy of a small adult entertainment club. He had his elbows against his knees and his head in his hands, like a child contemplating the universe. Neon signs flashed all around him, but he didn't care. The loyal customers stared up at the cloaked misfit, but he didn't care. He was free to do whatever he wanted, but he didn't care. As frustrating as the Dark Ocean was, it had given him time to realize that his goals were unfulfilling. Conquering the human world and the Digital World wouldn't make him any friends. At best, he could get a bunch of obsequious Digimon followers, like LadyDevimon, MarineDevimon, and SkullSatamon, all of whom he secretly hated. In retrospect, the DigiDestined had done him a favor by eliminating the "Daemon Corps." They had done him a favor by freezing his misguided ambitions. It was time for Daemon to come up with some new goals—a better purpose in his digital existence.

Daisuke remembered that the situation had to be approached delicately. Daemon was a necessary ally. "Dude, that canopy wasn't meant to support your weight. You probably shouldn't sit on it."

Daemon maintained his position. "I am not actually sitting. I am hovering just above the canopy in a sitting position."

"Well, alright then…keep doing that." Daisuke turned to Miyako. "I'm no good at starting these things."

"I noticed." Miyako devised a negotiation strategy. "Daemon, we intentionally released you from the Dark Ocean. We mean you no harm."

"Somehow, I don't think he was worried about that," Daisuke commented.

Miyako continued. "Could you please come down from there? We would like to make an arrangement with you."

Daemon hovered down to street level, and he stood within a meter of Miyako. Of course, he towered over her by nearly as much, meaning that Miyako would've been completely overshadowed, if only the sky weren't set to solid shadow anyway. "What sort of arrangement?" Daemon asked monotonically.

Miyako was intimidated, and therefore, she was apprehensive. She checked to make sure that Daisuke was still carrying the Divermon's broken spear. Once that was verified, she continued the negotiations. "It is our understanding that you are capable of shifting between dimensions. We would like to acquire transportation to another Earth dimension. We assume that you would want something in return for your services. While we cannot offer you our Digital World, nor our Earth, we have been told of a world that would lose nothing by accepting your complete control. Would you be interested?"

Daemon considered the offer. "Sorry, but I have outgrown world conquest. If you want my help, you will have to give me something better."

"Do you have anything in particular in mind?" Miyako hoped that it wasn't the same thing Koushiro asked for.

Daemon extended his hand. "I want your friendship."

Miyako looked to Daisuke.

Daisuke shrugged.

Miyako shook Daemon's hand. Then Daisuke shook Daemon's hand. Reluctantly, Cody did the same.

"I had forgotten how much easier it is to be friends with humans," Daemon told the DigiDestined. "I have not had a human friend since Ryo, and I simply lost touch with him. You will be my new friends. I will take you wherever you request, but first, you have to play some games with me."

"What kind of games?" Miyako asked warily.

Daisuke had a suggestion. "How about strip po–"

"–No!" was the unanimous response.

"I think my shooting range is open tomorrow. Do you want to learn to use a handgun?" Cody asked the flamethrower Digimon.

"That's an even worse idea," Miyako commented. "I propose that we play a game of Trivial Pursuit."

"Yes, that sounds like a fun game. Let us play that game," Daemon agreed.

Daisuke shook his head. "Dude, bad move. Miyako is going to cream us."

Around 1 A.M., back in Miyako's dorm room, Miyako, Daisuke, Cody, and Daemon were playing their game of Trivial Pursuit. Miyako's dorm room was more accommodating than Daisuke's, but it was still a tight squeeze for three humans and a Mega level Digimon. They were forty minutes into the game, and it was clear that Daisuke wasn't going to win, so he excused himself to make a call:

"If we're going to leave tomorrow, I'll have to set this up with Tomoki. I think he's going to let us stay in his apartment with him. I mean, we are saving his world and everything."

"Make sure you write down his dimensional coordinates," Miyako told Daisuke. "We'll have a tough time finding his dimension otherwise."

"Miyako, do you know _your_ dimensional coordinates?" Daisuke questioned.

"Not exactly."

"Then how do you expect Tomoki to know his?"

"He is on the other Earth, right?" Daemon asked. "There is only one dimension with another Earth. I have been there before."

"In that case, you can warn us about all of the tourist traps." Daisuke stepped outside and dialed Tomoki.

Meanwhile, inside the room, Daemon drew a card. "Miyako, in the category of 'Science and Nature,' for a wedge, what is the First Law of Thermodynamics?"

"Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, or, the energy put into a system equals the energy output of a system."

Daemon read the back of the card. "That is correct. You get a wedge."

Miyako took her wedge, but she hesitated to put it into her game piece. "The energy that I put into the water…the energy that Daisuke put into his stick…where did it come from? I don't have all the pieces of the puzzle yet," Miyako dropped her wedge into her game piece, "but I'll have them eventually."

Outside the room, the pieces were falling into place for Daisuke. "Tomoki, we're all set. We'll be coming soon to a theater near you."

Tomoki yawned. "Daisuke, do you have any idea what time it is? I have school tomorrow."

"Right, we do too, but we're college students; we can skip classes if we have to. Well, Cody isn't a college student, but I guess he must be alright with taking some time off. He did volunteer for this, and he knows that it could take a while. At least, I think he knows. If he doesn't, I'm not going to be the one to tell him."

"Get to the point," Tomoki demanded.

"We're going to need a place to stay. Since we're saving your world from this D-Reaper thing–"

"–Fine, you can all stay in my apartment. Just don't tell anybody; I'm not paying the extra rent. As it is, I've already got an unclaimed roommate, and he slimes everything that he touches. Bring your own food, clothes, money, and whatever else you think you'll need."

Daisuke considered the "whatever else." "I'll bring my lucky bat."

May 4th was Izumi's birthday. Around 10:30 A.M., in their Breezy Village cabin, Junpei and Izumi were still "celebrating." Their son, young Tomoki, had slept beside the mung tree the night before, surrounded by the legion of remaining Mega level digimon. The morning brought the same bickering. Were the Megas truly safe under King Junpei's protection? Was the digital world safe? Was Junpei fit to be the king? Ophanimon, KingEtemon, Gallantmon, Piedmon, and Polkamon were well aware that young Tomoki overheard their conversations. It was their intention to have young Tomoki relate the proceedings to his parents in order to inspire the king and queen to take action against Azulongmon, but the whole situation was over young Tomoki's head, even as a conversation recorder. Four-year-olds didn't involve themselves with politics. Young Tomoki was more interested in the elaborate costumes that the digimon wore. For a while, he played around in Gallantmon's cape.

"Gallantmon, you've got something crawling around under your cape," Ophanimon noted.

"I know; I think it's the kid," Gallantmon said.

"You can't let a kid run around under your cape!" Piedmon exclaimed.

"Why not?" Gallantmon asked.

"It's undignified," Piedmon answered. "Now throw him out."

Gallantmon reached down, picked up young Tomoki, and placed him elsewhere. "My cape is not a toy."

"Then why do you wear it?" Young Tomoki asked.

"…You ask too many questions," Gallantmon replied.

"I only asked one."

"One is too many." Gallantmon's lance pointed toward a nearby cauliflower garden. "Go play over there. Nobody likes cauliflower."

"Ahem, _I_ like cauliflower." Bokomon approached the legion of Mega level digimon.

Young Tomoki's eyes lit up. "Uncle Bokomon! Uncle Bokomon! What are you doing here in Breezy Village?"

"Is it not Izumi's eighteenth birthday? I am here to wish her a happy birthday. Where is she?"

"Mommy and Daddy are still in their room," young Tomoki answered. "I think they will be in there for a long time."

Bokomon smiled. "You are just as helpful as your namesake. Could you please tell me one other thing? The Mega level digimon that are gathered here, are these the last of the Mega level digimon?"

In his own words, young Tomoki explained the situation. "I think they said that the rest of the Megas were eaten by Azulongmon."

Bokomon's smile grew wider. "Thank you for this valuable information. As a reward, I will tell you a little secret." Bokomon approached young Tomoki, and he whispered into his ear.

Young Tomoki was confused by the secret. "But you look exactly like Uncle Bokomon."

"If you want to believe that I am Bokomon, do not watch what happens next." Bokomon approached the Megas (and Polkamon). He took a spot a meter in front of Piedmon. Then he began to change. The form of Wisemon was relinquished, and only the puppeteer remained. Azulongmon, in his massive, cloudy, sparking, chainy brilliance stood before the remaining Mega level digimon.

Piedmon had the misfortune of staring face-to-face with the supercharged renegade. He drew his Trump Swords, but it made no difference. He was immediately engulfed in electricity. His data was added to the heap, and his egg was sent to the Village of Beginnings.

Gallantmon braced himself behind his shield and launched his strongest attack, "Final Purification!" A blinding white beam of equal diameter to the shield was released. The beam connected with the side of Azulongmon's serpentine body, and no damage came of it. "Aww, nuts!"

The blast did manage to get Azulongmon's attention. He turned to face Gallantmon. "You fucking retard, you just had to provoke me…Blue Lightning!"

Gallantmon hoped that his shield would hold out against the attack, but it didn't. He was obliterated, and his data was summarily absorbed.

Young Tomoki watched in horror as the white knight perished, the egg indistinguishable among remnant sparks. He thought about how less than five minutes earlier, he had played in the digimon's cape. He thought about how effortlessly Gallantmon had moved him from point A to point B, and how that same digimon was completely powerless against the giant blue dragon. The notion of immeasurable power froze the boy in place. If his bladder were full, he would have involuntarily drained it.

KingEtemon had a bright idea. "You attacked Gallantmon because he provoked you? If that's how it works, I just won't provoke you." KingEtemon took a seat on the ground. "I'm just going to sit here, and I'm not going to provoke you. Is that okay?"

Azulongmon turned to KingEtemon. "Yeah right, you just sit there, and I'll leave you alone."

KingEtemon tipped his crown to the dragon. "Maybe you're not as unreasonable as everyone says."

"I was being sarcastic…Blue Lightning!" Azulongmon fried KingEtemon and took his data.

Ophanimon ascended to Junpei and Izumi's cabin and busted open the door. "Azulongmon is here! Get your lazy asses moving!"

Fortunately, Junpei and Izumi were in between "opening birthday presents," so the situation was less awkward than it could've been. Their bodies were concealed under their sheets, though their forms were fairly noticeable. Izumi sat up and stared at Ophanimon. Then she saw the hole where the door used to be. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking? You're paying to replace that."

"Fine, I'll replace your fucking door! Now get up and fight Azulongmon!"

"Could you leave so we can get dressed first?" Junpei requested.

"There's no time for that! Just get out there and digivolve!" In the back of her mind, Ophanimon wondered how many Mega level digimon were left.

"Okay, if you leave this room, we'll get up and fight Azulongmon." Izumi swung her feet to the floor to prove that she would follow through on the bargain.

Ophanimon didn't have a choice. She had to trust in the royal couple. "Remember, this is your world now. Don't let it go to hell." She exited the cabin and swooped toward the battle, hoping to aid her Mega level allies.

Junpei and Izumi grabbed their D-Tectors and exited the cabin (completely naked). The fact that their cabin exited onto a tree limb presented a particular problem for Junpei:

"I can't become RhinoKabuterimon here. My weight would snap off the branch."

"Huh, I guess that would be a problem." Izumi held up her D-Tector. "Execute: Fusion Evolution!" Izumi gained purple hair, white armor with purple trim, boot jets, aerodynamic wings, a facemask, and a giant pinwheel, "JetSylphymon!" She grabbed Junpei and took off with him. "This elevator's going down. I assume you want the ground floor."

"Man, the ground floor is boring. I hear they're serving cheese and crackers on the mezzanine."

JetSylphymon unloaded Junpei upon Breezy Village's carrot garden. "You haven't eaten cheese and crackers in nearly seven years. You're _not allowed_ to eat cheese and crackers, remember?"

Junpei nodded. "And I couldn't be happier. Cheese got me constipated anyway." Junpei held up his D-Tector. "Execute: Fusion Evolution!" Junpei became the blue and yellow rhinoceros tank creature, "RhinoKabuterimon!"

Azulongmon had Polkamon in his sights. "You fat fuck, aren't you going to attack me? You saw what happened to the monkey when he didn't attack me. So you can go out with glory, or you can go out like a pussy. What's it going to be?"

Polkamon maintained his composure. "You are attempting to gather the data of all of the Mega level digimon. I am merely an Ultimate, a weak Ultimate; I am not your target."

"There were four Megas standing here when I started this; I _smelled_ the power of four." To be certain, Azulongmon quickly sniffed Polkamon. "You are not the fourth; where is the fourth?"

Ophanimon surveyed the battlefield, looking for an opening while one of her fellow Megas took a shot from Azulongmon. She quickly realized that her fellow Megas were absent from the battlefield, and the reason seemed fairly obvious:

"Holy shit, I'm the last one. In that case, I'm getting my beautiful ass out of here." Ophanimon turned away from the conflict and headed for anywhere that was elsewhere.

Over Azulongmon's shoulder (if he had a shoulder), Polkamon spotted Ophanimon's retreat. "The fourth Mega is right behind you. You may have her under the contingency that this will be the end of your data pirating."

"Whatever, I don't have to agree to anything. I'm trying to protect the digital world from the D-Reaper. I will do what is necessary." Azulongmon turned his attention to Ophanimon. She was almost out of his firing range. Then Azulongmon turned back to Polkamon. "Wait a minute, aren't you Polkamon, the owner of that music store? You're the one who gave the legendary warriors the ability to play music on their D-Tectors as they battled."

"I believe that music can inspire–"

"–That was the lamest concept ever, and a dishonor to the D-Tectors' intended usage. You need to go on a diet anyway, so I think I'll assist you by trimming off some ugly data…Blue Lightning!" Azulongmon fried Polkamon and absorbed the shopkeeper's data. Then he took off to hunt down Ophanimon.

RhinoKabuterimon stomped his forelegs. "Are you ready to take on Azulongmon?"

JetSylphymon watched as Azulongmon chased Ophanimon across the sky. "Not quite yet." She soaked in the inevitable electrocution and egging of Ophanimon. Beneath her facemask, JetSylphymon smiled. "Okay, now I'm ready."

RhinoKabuterimon understood the purpose of the delay. "Now that was mean."

"What? It's not like I'm the one who blasted her…though I certainly would've enjoyed it." JetSylphymon started up her boot jets and her pinwheel. "She'll come back eventually. In the meantime, I say we give her a baby blue dragon to play with at the Village of Beginnings.

"Now you're talking. Let's do this together, just like the good old days." RhinoKabuterimon charged forward, but by the time he moved two steps, JetSylphymon was already in front of Azulongmon.

JetSylphymon began slicing at Azulongmon's cloud body with her circular saw-like pinwheel. She made several cuts, but all of her would-be progress was negated by the fact that she was slicing a gas. Her pinwheel passed through Azulongmon's body, but it inflicted no real damage. "What's the big idea? I'm carving this guy like veal scaloppini, and it's not doing shit."

Azulongmon turned to face JetSylphymon. "What the fuck are you doing? You weren't one of my targets. Do you _want_ me to take your data?"

"If I can't slice him, I'll blow him away…Jet Turbulence!" JetSylphymon launched a super concentrated wind attack with over a megaton of force behind it. Not even Azulongmon could maintain his position. The cloudy body was blown into the outskirts of Breezy Village.

RhinoKabuterimon caught up to JetSylphymon. "Nice move, but you know he's going to come back. I guess you could keep blowing him. I personally enjoy when you perpetually blow–"

"–I've heard that joke a million times. Right now, I need some advice. I can't cut this guy. Like you said, blowing him gets me nowhere. I doubt that your lightning attacks will work, seeing how he's a lightning digimon. You're the one with the battle strategies, so what do we do?"

RhinoKabuterimon thought it over. "You could try digivolving. You don't know what you'll change into, but you know that you'll be more powerful."

"It's worth a shot." Jetsylphymon took out her D-Tector. "Jetsylphymon digivolve to…" The body became distinctly less feminine, gaining white feathers, silver and gold armor, a belt with a scabbard and sword, a quiver with arrows, a back-strapped javelin, bird-like wings, and a beaked headdress. "…Valkyrimon!" Valkyrimon spun around and posed for RhinoKabuterimon. "How do I look?"

Of course, RhinoKabuterimon tried to be polite. "It's definitely a new look for you, very noble. It's the kind of look that says, "I take this digimon seriously as a warrior."

Valkyrimon knew the implication. "I look like a guy, don't I?"

"Yeah, but nobody said that I had to have sex with _all_ of your forms."

This news disconcerted Valkyrimon. "Then how am I going to become a stronger Mega?"

"I'd volunteer to be your personal trainer…but with any luck, this will be the last time you'll need this form."

As predicted, Azulongmon flew back to the confrontation. This time, he considered the wind and thunder warriors to be his targets, despite Wisemon's objectives. The clouds directly above the cloud matter digimon grew darker. "No bitch throws me around…Blue Lightning!" By utilizing the clouds above his head, Azulongmon launched a dozen lightning bolts instead of his usual single bolt.

"Shit, it's like Kerpymon's Storm of Judgment," RhinoKabuterimon surmised. Fortunately for him, every bolt was aimed at Valkyrimon.

With supersonic speed, Valkyrimon dodged every lightning bolt. One of the bolts that missed Valkyrimon happened to destroy Junpei and Izumi's honeymoon cabin.

In a shower of splinters, RhinoKabuterimon watched the home of his first sexual intercourse disintegrate. The greatest moments of his life were tied to the location. Like the consummation song suddenly halting in his head, he snapped along a sentimental fault line. RhinoKabuterimon's body began to glow. "RhinoKabuterimon mode change to…" The beast stood on his hind legs. His (MetalKabuterimon's) cannons became a jetpack. His front hooves became Beetlemon's fists. Once again, he became the digimon who defeated HellDiaboromon, "RhinoBeetlemon!"

Valkyrimon nodded her approval. "I was wondering what it would take to get _you_ to show up for this battle."

RhinoBeetlemon stomped his left foot. "Yeah, well, that did it. The gas dragon destroyed our honeymoon cabin, and that place was special. He'll pay for…Hey, how come you're not as riled up about it as I am?"

"The cabin was special because of the times we had in it, but he didn't destroy our memories. The cabin itself was just wood and nails; you can always rebuild it."

"I guess I could rebuild it. Do I have to?"

"Yeah, you do."

RhinoBeetlemon fired up his jetpack. "In that case, I'm _really_ pissed off with this guy."

Azulongmon knew what RhinoBeetlemon would attempt, and he forced himself to chuckle. "You fucking retard, you think you're going to beat me with your little jetpack? I am as far beyond you as you are beyond Rookies."

RhinoBeetlemon charged up his horns. Curiously, the surrounding sparks were no longer green, but the standard yellow of Beetlemon's attacks. "You're beyond me…and I'm right through you, Smash Flash Gore!" He propelled himself horns first toward Azulongmon's neck area (though one could call Azulongmon's entire body a neck). As he predicted, RhinoBeetlemon went right through Azulongmon, finishing his charge above the cloud body digimon. Of course, his attack had no effect. "But that was my best attack…I think we're in trouble."

Valkyrimon drew her sword. "We'll be fine; just leave it to me…Feral Sword!" Zipping through the sky in an imperceptible blur, Valkyrimon slashed back and forth over the length of Azulongmon's body, dicing the dragon like a roll of cookie dough. At the end of Azulongmon's tail, Valkyrimon became visible again. She checked on her handiwork, and noted that its effectiveness was equal to her husband's. "Huh, I think you're right. I hope you have a backup plan."

RhinoBeetlemon couldn't let his wife down. "I'll come up with something. In the meantime, save your energy and keep dodging those lightning bolts."

"Yeah right, magician boy is going to pull another rabbit out of his ass. That miracle shit ends right here, and just to make sure…Blue Lightning!" Azulongmon used the cloud bombing version again, which meant that his target, RhinoBeetlemon, was unable to dodge.

RhinoBeetlemon stood his ground. "Conduction Spire of One!" Through his horns, RhinoBeetlemon absorbed Azulongmon's onslaught. He was prepared to return the electrical attack through his Condenser Storm, but he wouldn't have a chance. The attack was so powerful that RhinoBeetlemon's battery overloaded, and he reverted to Junpei. In his naked human form, Junpei stared at his palms in disbelief. The tide of helplessness washed over him. "There goes my backup plan."

"One down and one to go. I'd love to finish you completely, but Wisemon still has some use for you." Azulongmon turned to Valkyrimon. "He'll thank me for teaching you some humility."

Valkyrimon was somewhat confused by Azulongmon's statement. "According to Bokomon, you _are_ Wisemon."

"Bokomon talks too much, and so do you, but I know how to shut you up." Azulongmon formed a ring with his serpentine body. "Aurora Force!" From the center of the ring, he launched an energy ball thirty meters in diameter.

Despite the size of the attack, Valkyrimon dodged it with ease. From the ground, Junpei noted a huge problem. "Watch it! The attack is coming back around. I bet it's heat-seeking. Try going back through Azulongmon!"

Valkyrimon nodded. "I'll give it a shot." Just like RhinoBeetlemon, she flew straight through Azulongmon's neck area. Three seconds later, the energy ball followed her through Azulongmon's abdominal area (not that Azulongmon had a defined abdomen). She knew that the attack was still following, and she knew that she had to do something about it. Her apprehension lied in deciding what she could afford to lose. "The cauliflower." Valkyrimon landed in the cauliflower garden, waited for the attack's arrival, and evaded it with perfect timing. Of course, every stalk of cauliflower was obliterated.

"Azulongmon shifted his body when the Aurora Force would've gone through his cranial area. He must have a weak point somewhere in his head," Junpei figured. He studied the structure of Azulongmon, and he began to develop a new plan of attack.

Azulongmon went back to using oral lightning bolts. Then he tried cloud bombing again. No matter what he threw at Valkyrimon, Valkyrimon kept dodging. From an endurance standpoint, he trusted that he could keep firing longer than Valkyrimon could keep dodging, but he had no way of knowing for sure. "Bitch, stand still and take it!"

Valkyrimon refused the request. "Fuck you; I don't go down without a fight."

Junpei had his battle plan. "Valkyrimon, come here for a second; I have to tell you something!"

Valkyrimon flew over to Junpei and knelt down beside him. Just as Junpei was about to whisper into her ear, a barrage of lightning bolts approached from above. Valkyrimon grabbed Junpei and took off to avoid getting shocked (never mind what would've happened to Junpei).

"The dark blue part of his head, that's the only part that's not cloudy," Junpei whispered to Valkyrimon.

"I understand." Valkyrimon tucked Junpei under her left arm, and readied her sword in her right hand. She shot up through the underside of Azulongmon's head, right through the overgrown beard. "Feral Sword!" Valkyrimon sliced symmetrically over the length of Azulongmon's facemask. The cut was so perfect that the dragon's thin bolt horn was split in half.

As Azulongmon's four eyes began to separate into pairs, the realization came over him:

"I lost this battle. I actually lost…to a girl. This body will become digitized in a matter of moments. Whatever, I'll just summon Wisemon, and I'll continue on as the ancient warrior of steel's descendent."

Valkyrimon landed and released Junpei. With satisfaction, she watched Azulongmon disappear. "They were all so afraid of him. Maybe that's why I'm the only one who could beat him."

Junpei watched the skies similarly, but his reaction was less confident:

"Something's not right here. Where's his data? He absorbed over a hundred Mega level digimon. There should be a shit-load of data coming your way."

"Maybe it'll rain down in a few seconds like it did when you beat HellDiaboromon."

"That will not be happening," a voice in the sky assured. "Azulongmon has summoned me, and he has given me his data as a tribute."

"So you're Wisemon now?" Valkyrimon asked with exasperation. "Why don't you just admit that you're the same digimon as Azulongmon? This 'summoning' bullshit is just for obese geeks who play overpriced card games and who couldn't get laid if their lives depended on it…no offense, Junpei."

"Hey, you're describing the _old_ me, so no offense taken."

"The old you's, or rather, the young you's, are precisely what I must discuss with you," the voice in the sky told Junpei and Valkyrimon. "First, I insist that you are both in your human forms…The Offspring Lightning!" A green lightning bolt was sent down. Its path seemed to be heading nowhere near Valkyrimon, so it was paid no notice…until it curved in midair and hit Valkyrimon.

In a flash of emerald, Valkyrimon reverted to a nude Izumi. "You son of a bitch, that was a cheap shot!"

Junpei put his index finger over his mouth, signaling to his wife that listening was the only viable strategy remaining.

Wisemon manifested in the form of eight-year-old Tomoki Himi, complete with the trademark oversized hat. Then he began his lecture:

"Children are chosen to be DigiDestined, Tamers, legendary warriors, etc. because children are innocent. Innocence allows children to believe in their partner digimon, or in your case, yourselves as digimon. By having you stay in this world indefinitely, I had thought that your innocence could be retained, since corruptions only come from Earthly forces. It seems that you have corrupted yourselves. Your arrogance, your indolence, and your lust for each other, all of these were forgivable. Izumi, you planted foreign seeds, and you escaped from reality when your reality was paradise. This single act is the greatest insult of all to this world, and it is the quintessential loss of innocence. So, Izumi, since today is your eighteenth birthday, the day you become an adult, I am ejecting you from this world. I assume that your husband and son will follow you out. Humans were not meant to live in this world. You were given a unique opportunity, and you blew it. I will arrange for a Trailmon to pick you up this evening. I suggest that you start packing and saying your goodbyes."

Junpei saw an ulterior motive. "Not so fast, Bokomon read us that prophecy. You just want us to go back so we'll fight the D-Reaper."

Izumi seconded the assertion. "Yeah, this is just more bullshit. How do you expect us to take you seriously if you're not going to be straight with us?"

Eight-year-old Tomoki glared at the couple. "So I have multiple reasons for sending you back; that does not make my point any less valid. You cannot live in this world. You must go home."

"This world _is_ our home," Izumi retorted with ferocity.

Junpei put his arm around Izumi's waist. "And a house united will stand forever."

Eight-year-old Tomoki rolled his eyes. "Very well, if you insist on staying, I cannot allow you to remain as humans." Eight-year-old Tomoki snapped his fingers, and a book appeared in his hands. "I went to the trouble of reconfiguring you into flesh and blood after you entered this world, and I can rescind this gift. I shall read from the Pandora Dialog." Eight-year-old Tomoki opened the book, and he began speaking in an unknown language. Five seconds later, Junpei and Izumi were cast in eerie green spotlights. The conversion process completed itself in under a second. Wisemon closed his book. "There, you now have the same vulnerabilities as every digimon in this world. I could send you back to your eggs now, but I still have use for you. Your comeuppance will occur soon enough. In the meantime, put on some clothes—learn some shame." Eight-year-old Tomoki began to walk away, and then he simply disappeared.

Izumi felt herself up and down. "Huh, I still feel like a human."

Junpei checked himself similarly. "Yeah, me too, but what if we really are data now?"

"I don't see how it makes any difference. I'm the only Mega level digimon left in this world, and since Wisemon won't destroy us until we do whatever it is he needs us for, I think we're still okay. Even if something does get us, we'll become eggs, and we'll be fine again…unless our eggs get smashed. But nothing is going to get us; we're too powerful."

"That's exactly what HellDiaboromon, Kerpymon, and Azulongmon thought. Keep in mind, we're still considered to be royalty in this world, and that sort of thing breeds jealously. I know from experience; jealousy can make creatures do crazy things."

Izumi caught the hint of something from the night of the blue star. "You're talking about what you did to Kouichi? I was led to believe that you were trying to protect me. Which was it: protection or jealousy?"

"We've been through this before," Junpei complained.

"And you've never given me a straight answer! Are you going to trust me with the truth, or are you going to be like that digimon who never shows his true form?"

"It was about eighty percent jealousy," Junpei answered immediately. "I just…I just wanted you so badly."

Izumi patted Junpei on the shoulder. "Yeah, I've known all along. I just wanted to get you to admit it. This doesn't change anything. _Nothing_ that occurred today has to change what we have together."

Junpei flashed a contented smile. "It's still your birthday. Technically, we're both adults today."

Izumi gave Junpei a two minute kiss with plenty of tongue. When she broke it:

"More than adults, we're _consenting_ adults."

"Yeah, some things never change. If we want to keep from making new enemies, we'd better head back to the castle and look busy."

"You just want to avoid fixing the cabin."

"I'll do it the next time we come here, but I don't have the energy after that battle. Besides, I would have to draw up some design sketches first. Now, let's grab Tomoki and head back to Cloud Kingdom."

A troublesome thought occurred to Izumi. "Where is Tomoki?"

Young Tomoki had remained frozen in the same spot. He had observed all of Azulongmon's conquests. He had observed the battle between JetSylphymon and Azulongmon. He had observed the battle between Valkyrimon and Azulongmon. He had observed a boy, not much older than himself, initiating fear in his naked parents. None of it made sense to him. He was innocent.

**Author's Notes:**

Musical Inspirations:

Ken's main theme: "Sickman" by Alice in Chains

Ken's friendships: "The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out/Screws Fall Out" by Less Than Jake

Miyako's "Load" theme: "Cure" by Metallica

Ken's resignation: "Drift & Die" by Puddle of Mudd

Izumi's intractability: "Elders" by The Offspring

Junpei and Izumi's penultimate stand: "Generation Lost" by Rise Against

Literature Inspirations:

For an explanation of my spelling of JetSylphymon, I'll refer you to the Name Origins section of Megchan's Digimon Encyclopedia:

http://digimon. don't have to look too hard to find similarities to the Book of Genesis. I know using Bible stuff is cliché, but there's something nice about using a reference that everybody can pick up on.

Television Inspirations:

"I am as far beyond you as you are beyond Rookies." This line was a parody of one of Apocalypse's lines in X-Men: The Animated Series. Much like Apocalypse, my Azulongmon believed in the survival of the strongest.

Video Game Inspirations:

As diehard fans know, Ken and Ryo's Millenniummon storyline originated in the Wonderswan games. Ryo's appearance in the Tamers' dimension has always been a mystery, with many plausible theories explaining it. For my purposes, I decided that Daemon brought him there.

In Digital Card Battle, my favorite Digimon game, Valkyrimon is the strongest nature type card, and quite possibly the best Digimon card in the game. Valkyrimon is also Silphymon's Mega form. So, I made Valkyrimon JetSylphymon's Mega form.

Political Inspirations:

I think I made it fairly subtle, so here's a clue: "Chainy" is not a word. From there, you ought to be able to put the pieces together. As usual for one of my stories, you'll get a lot out of rereading.

Personal Inspirations:

I've had to memorize the laws of thermodynamics in my academic pursuits.

I had assorted nuts and pretzels on the mezzanine of the Embassy Suites in Chicago. They had this complimentary bar at 4:00 P.M., and I drank Shirley Temples. Maybe it was the ground floor. The point is: that was probably the nicest hotel I've ever been in, great location too.

©2005 by Benjamin Wiseman

Email comments and criticisms 


	7. Syndicated Inc

All Seasons: Wisemon's Actual Ending Series

Part 7: Syndicated Inc.

By Wisemon

Digimon is the property of Toei Animation. This series is intended mostly as a release for a burning plot idea, and for an ending that I find far more relatable than that of my Alternate Ending Series. So, the dialogue will be a bit less frequent in this one. To save time, on occasion, there will be some he said/she said type narratives. As is my style, this is all in the past tense, like a fairy tale, a really fucked-up fairy tale. Because I put so much thought into each word, my interests lie mostly in poetry now, which is why I was reluctant to even start this series. Unfortunately, poetry can't satisfy my love of foreshadowing. This series will be absolutely loaded with foreshadowing, but you'll have to find it yourself this time around.

In the last story, Daemon joined up with Miyako, Daisuke, and Cody. Azulongmon destroyed the remaining Megas and Polkamon, and then he was beaten by JetSylphymon's Mega form, Valkyrimon. As he went out, he summoned Wisemon. Wisemon told Junpei and Izumi to go back to the real world, and the king and queen refused. So, Junpei and Izumi were converted from flesh and blood into data because, according to Wisemon, adult humans were not meant to live in the digital world. Though mentioned in previous chapters, this story formally introduces my version of Jyou. I suggest reading my second A-Side, "Gump," for more details on his background and mindset.

In this chapter, all the crucial plot points are revealed. When every season merges, it's the most provocative amalgamation imaginable. There's a standard disclaimer here for adult language, but nothing too gnarly. If you're under 18…I really don't give a shit.

May 5th, 2010, as he promised, Daemon took Miyako, Daisuke, and Cody with him to the endangered Earth. They arrived at Shibuya station through Daemon's dimensional portal. From there, they lugged their luggage to Tomoki's apartment building. They arrived at Tomoki's door around 5:00 P.M., and the immediate problem became obvious. There was not enough space in Tomoki's one-room apartment for four teenagers, two digimon, and all of their stuff. There wasn't even enough standing room for everybody. Something had to go:

"Dude, do you absolutely need this garbage bag full of empty tuna cans?" Daisuke hoisted up a bag of nearly a hundred washed out tuna cans and dropped it outside of Tomoki's door.

"I keep looking for a recycling place that will pay me for them, but I haven't had any luck so far," Tomoki explained.

Miyako knew the reason for Tomoki's recycling disappointment. "You only get money back on items for which you pay a deposit at the time of purchase, such as soda bottles. You can't get a deposit back on items that never had a deposit. These tuna cans are worthless." Miyako reconsidered her assessment. "Granted, they are made out of aluminum, and you never know when you'll need some scrap aluminum. Perhaps we could store these cans elsewhere in the building. I assume this building has a basement."

"Uh, unless you've got a maintenance elevator key, I don't think you'll be going in the basement." Tomoki came up with a better idea. "SlimeBakemon could take the cans onto the roof."

The ghost digimon heard his name. "Bee meemomomomee?"

Tomoki handed the bag of cans to SlimeBakemon. "Can you go put these on the roof?"

"Yaaaahyaaaah meemodoodoo." SlimeBakemon took the bag and flew down the hall toward the window at the end.

Daisuke pointed at SlimeBakemon. "What's wrong with him?"

"What do you mean?" Tomoki asked.

"I mean that digimon are supposed to speak our language, and that little spud just let out some incoherent babbling."

"Oh, _that_…we had a little accident." Tomoki tried to structure his story in a way that wouldn't look too alarming to kids who had partner Digimon. "I caught him eating up some of our profits, literally eating snow cones when he should've been selling them. I don't know why exactly, but I just wanted to throw something at him. I grabbed some ice from the freezer cart, and I chucked it at his head. Now, I know that I shouldn't have done it, but I thought he'd be fine. The guy's recovered from an implosion; a little ice shouldn't have done any damage. But for some reason, getting ice thrown at his head caused some sort of digital brain damage, best I can figure."

Miyako had a hypothesis. "Tomoki, were you wearing your spirit suit at the time?"

"Yes, on laundry day, I wear my spirit suit. What does that have to do with it?"

"At the moment, it's just a theory, but I believe that we can charge the objects of our spirits with destructive energy while wearing our spirit suits. Daisuke sliced the legs off of three Divermon with a stick, and I finished them off by placing my hands on the water. It can't be a coincidence that he and I have the spirits of wood and water, respectively."

Tomoki realized what Miyako was implying. "Even if I did charge the ice in my hand with some 'destructive energy,' like a digimon's attack, that shouldn't have affected SlimeBakemon. He can recover pieces of his body if anything gets moved around. That's why it was so hard to beat him the first time."

"Like I said, it's just a theory. If it were airtight, it would be a theorem, or possibly a law."

"Like the Trivial Pursuit question that I asked you?" Daemon chimed in.

"Precisely, just like the laws of thermodynamics. Now then, we should try to evacuate some more spatial consumers from this room." Miyako scanned Tomoki's belongings for large non-necessities. There was only one obvious one. "Daisuke, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"

"You want to know what's on my mind? This is about the time of day that I usually get out of classes, get back to my dorm, take a seat at my computer, take out some tissues…" Daisuke cut himself off. "You should probably just tell me what you're thinking."

Miyako obliged. "I'm thinking that we should put Tomoki's freezer cart on the roof."

Tomoki initially objected to the idea. "But that freezer cart is my livelihood. Without it, I can't afford…Oh, you mean just for storage?"

"Exactly, just have SlimeBakemon store it on the roof when you're not using it. Then have him take it down in the morning so you can go sell your confections."

Tomoki considered the proposal. "Hmm, SlimeBakemon works the morning shift anyway. I suppose that the cart will stay cool outside at night, though it has been getting hotter these past few years. Since it's the only way you're going to have any room in here, I'll agree to it. And as soon as you're done and gone, the room I've made for you will be room I've made for Suzie."

Daisuke smiled weakly. "I wouldn't hold my breath…if I were you."

At 7:30 P.M., inside the Wongs' apartment, tensions were mounting. Rinchei and Jaarin had moved away years earlier, and Henry pretty much took care of himself, but in his years of decline, Mr. Wong was finding that being responsible for just one child was almost more than he and his wife could handle. Suzie had not gone to school for the past week. She wasn't cutting classes, nor was she suspended; the circumstances were beyond her control. The D-Reaper had taken over her high school, the same high school that Henry had attended. Mr. Wong did not like the idea of his daughter staying at home and not learning, but for the time being, he was forced to accept it. What irked him even more was the fact that her friend, Tomoki, came over during the day while he and his wife went to work, which meant that the coeds were alone in the apartment without any supervision. Suzie had assured him that they were only friends, but like any protective father, Mr. Wong had to know for sure:

"Henry, could you come take a look at this?" Mr. Wong turned on his television screen, and he used a remote control to rewind the tape in his obsolete analog recording device.

"Take a look at what, Dad?" Henry stood by his father's side and observed the television screen.

"You know how I've been concerned about Suzie staying home alone with that Tomoki boy? She said he was visiting yesterday, so I decided to set up a hidden camera."

"Dad, I think you should just trust her. Suzie knows right from wrong, and I don't think Tomoki is nearly as bad as you say he is."

Mr. Wong began playing the tape approximately in the middle of Tomoki's visit. "I had to know for sure. Take a look, Henry, and tell me what you see."

Henry observed the black and white visuals. Tomoki and Suzie were sitting on the living room futon, and they were talking, presumably about school, or possibly about Digimon. It was hard to tell because the hidden camera didn't record audio. "They're talking to each other. They're friends; that's what friends do." Henry's tone was patronizing.

"Correct, they're talking to each other here, but I've watched this whole tape…" Mr. Wong fast forwarded the tape. "…and it just so happens that they're talking to each other through the entirety of Tomoki's visit." Sure enough, an hour later in the recording, Tomoki and Suzie were still sitting on the futon and chatting.

Henry became irritated. "So, what's your point? If Tomoki and Suzie aren't doing anything that you would disapprove of, why did you feel the need to show me this?"

"I just thought this spy camera stuff was kind of neat, and I wanted to show off my sleuthing. Henry, as great as I was, you're going to be part of the next generation of technical experts, and sometimes…a father just wants his son to be proud of his heritage."

No matter how his father tried, Henry could not embrace his true heritage, the apathetic system of beliefs. "Is that all?"

"I suppose, since Tomoki doesn't appear to be making any physical advances on my daughter."

Henry smiled. "We did a good job raising her."

"Fine, you want some of the credit as her older brother? You can have it." Mr. Wong stopped the tape on Tomoki's exiting. "But sooner or later, we're going to have to face the fact that she's become a young woman. She and Tomoki have been friends for about five years."

Henry could only take so much of his father's roundabout logic. "What's your point?"

Mr. Wong ejected the tape. "Either this kid is gay, or I'm starting to feel really sorry for him."

"Our relationships never live up to the ones inside our heads. He'll have to learn it sooner or later."

Henry's words ignited curiosity in Mr. Wong. "Henry, were you in a relationship? You never mentioned anything about a girlfriend. As far as I know, you've just been studying these past several years."

"No kidding, I've been going through texts like a monk in a monastery, and no, I haven't had a girlfriend."

Mr. Wong pressed further. "Then what caused your change in attitude? You used to be more agreeable and a whole lot less irritable."

"You could say that my inner strength got fed up with a world full of weaklings."

Mr. Wong was not satisfied with Henry's answer. "These personality changes are always based in events. What _specifically_ happened to change yours?"

"This is my personality. This has always been my personality. I was just not aware of the extreme inadequacy of the surrounding world until several years ago."

Mr. Wong's tone became more forceful as his question became a command. "Tell me what happened."

"It's not something that I talk about, not even with Takato."

"Henry, I'm your father."

Henry shook his head. "Then you should be able to figure it out."

"I'm not a mind reader; I'm just a concerned parent. You know, not every father in this country cares as much about his children as I do. I come straight home from work, but my coworkers all go out to the bars. I've probably lost promotions because of my lack of participation in the business community, but I'm proud of those decisions."

Henry recalled that the event had already been related to Kenta, and he supposed that his guilt-tripping father was at least Kenta's equal. "It wasn't the rejection that got to me; it was her reason. She didn't want to have to care about anything."

Mr. Wong cycled through the short list of Henry's female acquaintances. "You're talking about Rika, aren't you?"

Henry nodded. "Cares are worries…she wanted moumantai—the expression that Terriermon used to keep my proactive brain in check. It's pretty much what Sensei used to tell me." Henry clenched his fist. "But _I_ give a damn, and maybe I can't change the world, but I can sure as hell try! Dad, our team meeting is tomorrow at noon. If you want to help us beat the D-Reaper, show up with some constructive input."

"Henry, tomorrow is a Thursday; I have to go to work. Do you think you could reschedule this meeting to sometime over the weekend?" Mr. Wong's cell phone rang. He checked the caller ID. "It's him again…Sorry, I have to take this call." Mr. Wong accepted the incoming call and put his ear beside the carcinogenic waves. "Good evening, Yamaki."

Henry glared at his father. "You know what, Dad? Just forget it. It's my generation with its future on the line, and I'll fight my own battles."

Mr. Wong held up his index finger, indicating that Henry would have to wait a while before his next turn to speak. "No, Yamaki, I'm not going to give you that password…Because you don't need it…I know that the city is in a state of emergency, but that doesn't justify…Are you threatening me?"

Around 9:00 P.M., in Tomoki's apartment, the spatial issues had been settled, and the gang's first dinner together (instant ramen) had been eaten. For Miyako, Daisuke, and Cody, the next day's meeting became a source of anxiety, but for Tomoki, there was a more pressing matter to be settled:

"Somebody clogged the toilet." Tomoki held up a plunger. "I think I know who did it, but before I start passing judgment, would that individual like to take responsibility?"

Daisuke turned to Cody. "Dude, I told you not to eat the kind with dried pork and onions, but would you listen? Noooo, you just had to have the Szechuan Blend." In an attempt to imitate Cody, Daisuke switched to a more serious tone of voice. "It's what all the police officers eat. The Szechuan Blend is the perfect stakeout companion."

"Uh, I don't think Cody was the culprit." Tomoki cast his gaze at Miyako. "There's a little string coming out of the clog."

Miyako blushed. "…Sorry about that." She took the plunger from Tomoki and headed to her task. "In my defense, in my dormitory, the plumbing systems can handle feminine hygiene products."

Tomoki stepped aside to allow Miyako access to the restroom obstruction. "Welcome to my dimension, where the D-Reaper has control of over fifty city blocks, and tampons clog the toilet."

Daisuke noticed that the apartment was less crowded than it should've been:

"Has anybody seen Daemon lately? He was here just a few minutes ago, but now he's missing."

Miyako began to plunge the communal toilet. "I'm sure he'll make his presence in our company shortly."

Daisuke scratched lightly through the hair on the back of his head. "We have a company?"

Around 11:00 P.M., in Tomoki's apartment, the sleeping bags were laid out, and the team was getting ready to go to bed. More accurately, the teens sat on their beddings and intermittently chatted in classic slumber party style. Of course, Tomoki had the bed. Cody sat on a sleeping bag next to Tomoki. Miyako sat on a sleeping bag next to Cody. Daisuke sat on a sleeping bag next to Miyako. SlimeBakemon completed the line, hovering beside Daisuke in the position closest to the door; the ghost digimon needed no sleeping bag. Daisuke was notably annoyed with the prospect of having to sleep next to SlimeBakemon. He did not hesitate to voice his concerns:

"Do you think you could sleep somewhere else?" Daisuke directed SlimeBakemon's attention to Tomoki's computer desk. "I mean, you could probably fit in a desk drawer, right? Tomoki said that you could make yourself the size of a tennis ball."

"Yaaaah, buttuttutt…" SlimeBakemon had his reasons, if he could express them.

"He can't sleep that way," Tomoki explained. "It takes effort on his part to compact himself."

Daisuke turned to Tomoki. "Fine, but there better not be any green drool around me when I wake up." It was only at this point, with the living arrangements issues settled, that Daisuke truly noted on the appearance of the boy whom he had talked to for years without a face. The kid who had kept his composure through the loss of his home and parents upon his return to Earth, he was a fairly average looking teenage boy. He had short brown hair and illegible gray-green eyes. Just like his guests, he planned to sleep in his next day's outfit. Tomoki wore khaki shorts, a lime green t-shirt, and a very worn looking white dress shirt, with every button on the relic left undone. Daisuke knew that Tomoki also possessed a pair of goggles…somewhere in the apartment, he assumed.

Likewise, Tomoki soaked in the appearances of the new warriors of wood, water, and light. Daisuke was about what he expected from the descriptions, dressed in chocolate brown knickers, a navy t-shirt, and a cue chalk blue vest; all topped with unruly brown hair. Miyako had the garb of an intellectual, the business casual combo of men's navy cargo pants and a man's sky blue dress shirt. Her figure and her long lavender hair gave her away, and her Coke-bottle glasses—they were just a nice touch. Cody was something else. His dark hair was rigidly defined in a military cut. He merely wore faded blue jeans and an indigo t-shirt. By all appearances, Cody was a simple young man with meager aspirations. As Daisuke and Miyako had carried the bulk of the conversation, Tomoki had learned very little about the warrior of light, and he wanted to know more about the boy his own age. As he searched for an initiation to a line of personality inquiries, there was a knock upon his apartment door.

SlimeBakemon checked the peephole, and he subsequently opened the door for Daemon. Daemon hovered into the room with a conspicuous item in his right hand.

Daisuke read the label on Daemon's freight:

"'Jose Cuervo'…Dude, why are you carrying a bottle of tequila?"

Daemon held up his acquisition for the team's admiration, forty ounces of fermented agave plant. "As I understand it, today is Cinco de Mayo, and you humans celebrate this holiday with tequila. I noticed that Tomoki's apartment lacked tequila, so I went out and got some for everybody."

"Cinco de Mayo, you mean the anniversary of Mexican independence?" Miyako shook her head. "We don't celebrate that in this country."

"And where did you get the money for that bottle?" Tomoki asked.

Daemon shrugged. "The cashier never asked me for any money. I just flew past him with the bottle, and he kind of looked at me funny, and that was the end of it."

Cody knew the end of it. "In other words, that bottle is stolen! You have to return it to the store."

"The store is closed now, but they will not miss their tequila." Daemon held up the bottle in an offering gesture. "I think that we should drink together to celebrate our new team. Are you with me?"

Cody refused:

"I want nothing to do with anything stolen."

Daisuke refused:

"I need all of my brain cells. I'm barely surviving as it is."

Miyako looked to Daisuke, and for a brief moment, part of her wanted to lose her inhibitions, but then she refused:

"Consuming alcohol the night before our team meeting would not be a practical course of action."

Tomoki gave the decisive refusal:

"I've heard enough to know that liquor makes messes and all sorts of bad smells. It's my apartment, and I say there will be no drinking in it."

Daemon didn't appreciate the quadruple refusal. "I was hoping that we could all drink together, but I see that I still have not earned your trust." It was within Daemon's power to retaliate with digital fireballs, but instead, he took the bottle and exited Tomoki's apartment. Then he seated himself outside of Tomoki's door, and he began to drink.

Daisuke watched as Daemon left. "Somehow, I don't see a healthy outcome from that conversation."

"That guy needs to chill." Tomoki stretched for a silver lining. "And maybe a few shots will do him some good."

Cody furrowed his brow. "Not when they're stolen."

"Come on, let's get some sleep," Daisuke proposed. "We've got a big day tomorrow."

SlimeBakemon hit the lights, and the team attempted to fall asleep. Of course, with the anxiety of the next day's uncertainties, sleep did not come easy. Tomoki fell to the sandman first, followed by Daisuke, followed by Miyako, followed by Cody. By 1:00 A.M., they were all asleep. Tomoki dreamt of his family. Daisuke dreamt of a relationship. Miyako dreamt of citations in scientific journals. Cody briefly dreamt of avenging his father, but then he entered his usual state of dreamless sleep.

On the morning of May 6th, Daisuke awoke in an unaccustomed room, and for a brief moment, he was frightened. Then he remembered his reasons for sleeping in Tomoki's apartment, and he saw Miyako beside him, and the fear subsided. More accurately, the fear became tension. Daisuke found that Miyako was sleeping in a much closer position than the one she had been in upon her entry into dreamland, a face-to-face position. Her lips were less than six inches away from Daisuke's, and the convective warmth of her body was palpable. Though frustrated by the impropriety of acting on the temptation, Daisuke knew the subconscious implications, and he looked forward to pointing them out to Miyako when she awoke. Unfortunately, seemingly still asleep, Miyako rolled back to her original position. Two minutes later, she awoke to the sound of Tomoki's alarm clock. Simultaneously, Tomoki, Cody, and SlimeBakemon joined the waking party. Daisuke sat up. "Swell, another start to a day of disappointments."

Miyako yawned and put on her glasses, her daily initiation. "Daisuke, did you say something?"

Daisuke sighed. "I was just…thinking about my dream."

"There's no sense in contemplating unconscious thoughts." Miyako grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste and headed for the bathroom. "You can brush your teeth when I'm done."

Tomoki looked to Cody. "It's cool; we'll get our turns eventually."

Awake only in his facial expression, Cody nodded.

By 10:30 A.M., the roommates were ready to walk over to the Wongs' apartment. Miyako, Daisuke, Tomoki, Cody, and SlimeBakemon crossed the threshold to the hallway, and they found Daemon curled up on the floor, an empty tequila bottle beside his head.

Tomoki picked up the bottle for future recycling. Then he gave Daemon a slight kick to the abdomen, just enough to wake him. With no repercussive fear in his voice, Tomoki addressed the notorious Digimon:

"You have to get up. The building's supervisor doesn't like to see bums sleeping in the hallway."

Daemon opened his eyes. They should've been a pale blue, but instead, they were a bloodshot red. "I am not a bum! I am a Digimon with a major headache! Speaking of which, I better not yell; that hurts." Through his bloodshot eyes, Daemon tried to find culpability. "This would not have happened if you had agreed to drink with me. You made me drink the whole bottle by myself."

"Come on, you can't blame us for this little hallway shindig that you decided to hold last night," Daisuke argued. "Our lives are determined by our choices. We're all responsible for our own choices."

Miyako cleared her throat. "That's precisely what I was going to say, though my version would've been far more elaborate and inclusive."

"Weesagogo," SlimeBakemon inputted.

"What did he say?" Daisuke asked (presumably Tomoki).

Tomoki unlocked his apartment door and placed the empty tequila bottle inside (and out of the way) for future recycling. "I think he's saying we should get going."

Cody realized Tomoki's bottle intentions. "Hold it; you're planning to collect the deposit for that bottle, despite the fact that you never paid for it. That's not right."

"Whoa, you want to talk about 'not right?' Try living alone in the park for a few months. You'll be recycling plenty of other people's bottles just to survive." Just before his apartment door swung closed, Tomoki walked back inside. Thirty seconds later, he walked back out. He was wearing a pair of goggles around his forehead. They propped up his bangs in the classic goggle boy style. "And that's what it's all about—survival. I had a friend; he was like a brother to me. He couldn't make it, so I took his shirt, his goggles, and his name." Given the content of Tomoki's speech, his words were inappropriately dispassionate.

There was an awkward silence, like the sort orbiting astronauts force on news anchors. Miyako and Daisuke began to sense the reality of the dimension they had entered, a world where heroes could die. Cody, whose father had died while serving the public as a police officer, was already inured to this notion. Daemon heard what Tomoki said, but he didn't really process it.

"Weesagogo," SlimeBakemon repeated.

Tomoki nodded. "We should get going. It's a long walk, and I'd like to get there early. Daemon, will you be coming with us?"

Daemon attempted to stand, and then he re-crashed upon the hallway carpet. "I should be okay in a little while. Go on without me, and I will teleport to the Wongs' apartment when I feel more able."

"Sounds like a plan." Daisuke began to walk down the hallway. "Alright guys, let's get this show on the road."

Miyako grabbed Daisuke by his arm. "Daisuke, the elevator's in the other direction."

Daisuke reversed his steps. "Right…I knew that."

At 11:15, on the consoling rooftop of his apartment building, Henry was practicing his combos. He was dressed in metallic gray cargo pants, a black t-shirt, and his green vest. For the day, he was skipping classes, a rarity for the determined student, but he knew that his immediate obligations would require him to skip many classes. Henry knew that some of his classes, potentially, would have to be dropped to save his GPA. If he had to enroll for an extra semester to make up for those classes, then that's what he'd do. Saving the planet from the D-Reaper was a priority, and Henry felt responsible:

"I should've finished it the first time. Maybe MegaGargomon just wasn't spinning fast enough; I'll probably never know. Maybe if I'd gotten some help from Takato, Ryo, and Rika…Why did Dad have to bring that up?" Henry sliced the air with a midlevel roundhouse and followed with an abdominal back kick with the opposite leg. "He doesn't even care enough to show up at this meeting, so why should he care about my lack of a love life? Why should he care that I'm going crazy just trying to find someone who cares?" Henry threw a series of right-handed jabs, a left forearm, a right leg kick, and a left high kick. "Takato used to be the conscience, the guy who'd do anything to protect humans and Digimon. Some time after he and Jeri got together, he lost that part of himself. One thing led to another, and then they were selling spiked milkshakes to minors. Now they're both in prison, where they can't help anybody." Henry stepped in with his left foot and shot out his right leg in a chest level spinning back kick. "Dad wanted to know why I've changed. The same way contentment weakened their resolve and morality, discontentment fortified my own." Henry launched a stiff front kick. "While I suppose I should be grateful to be where I am, part of me longs to be one of them—able to find someone like myself. They don't care where they are, as long as they're together." Henry linked two leg kicks, an inside spin kick, and a high back kick. "Maybe in the next life I'll find somebody, unless my intensity is part of my soul, in which case, I'm destined to fight the wind on this rooftop for eternity." Henry lifted his leg for another kick, but then he dropped it. "Why am I so alone?!" He screamed it across the skyline—crowded with buildings, but still too open for any echo.

"Enough with the melodrama. You ain't alone anymore." Kenta climbed out from the roof hatchway. He stood up, and he dusted off his stone white cargo pants and his orange t-shirt. "I figured I'd find you here. Dontya wanna come inside and take a shower before the meeting?"

Henry pulled out his metallic gray D-Tector and checked the time. "It's 11:20. It takes me fifteen minutes to shower. I've still got another fifteen minutes on this roof."

Kenta did the math in his head. "Just fifteen?"

"I prefer to be early for meetings." Henry looked Kenta over. In the face and upper body, it appeared as though Kenta had reached his target weight, though he still seemed slightly padded in the abdominal and thigh areas. "Did you check the scale?"

Kenta put his hands in his pockets and looked down at the rooftop. "According to the Body Mass Index, I'm where I'm 'sposedta be, but I'm never gonna be as trim as you. I never was. That just ain't how my body was built. You're just lucky."

"You think _I'm_ lucky?" The accusation angered Henry, though he wouldn't admit it to his protégée. "I said I'd roll with you once you reached your target weight, but you know: that's just not how things work in a real fight. Besides, I want to see you using the blocks that I taught you. So, I'm going to come at you with strikes, and I assume that you're going to block while looking for an opportunity to take me to the ground, and we'll see what happens."

Kenta shifted his feet to shoulder width and bent and his knees slightly. "Henry, do we really gotta do this?" Kenta noted the expanse of bare bitumen. "You ain't even got a mat today…not that I'm afraid. You're my friend; I don't wanna hurt you."

"I'll be fine; you should worry about protecting yourself," Henry noticed that Kenta's stance was incomplete, "and how are you going to protect yourself if your guard is down?"

Kenta lifted his arms to a prudent pugilist's position. "Sorry, I forgot about that."

Instantly, Henry got into his fighting stance. "Are you ready? Go!" To truly test Kenta's ability to block, Henry decided to not hold back anything. He came out with rapid punches and kicks to Kenta's head and upper torso—all of which were blocked. Henry also threw in the occasional kick to Kenta's legs. These were impossible to block.

"Those leg kicks hurt!" Kenta exclaimed internally. To avoid follow-ups, he had no choice but to back away a little every time a leg kick connected. "I ain't gonna be able to take many more of those without losing my balance…or running out of roof. I've gotta mount some offense." Desperately, Kenta shot in for a single leg takedown.

Henry jumped back to avoid Kenta's takedown attempt. Then he swung his left leg sideways, initiating a vicious roundhouse to Kenta's lowered head.

Kenta dropped to his knees and blocked the kick. He immediately realized that he had left himself immobile, and immobility equaled vulnerability.

Henry stepped past Kenta with his left foot, and he whipped his right leg back toward his target. The heel of his right foot connected with the back of Kenta's skull.

Kenta felt the harshest of stings, and then he felt nothing. He fell face first directly into the gravel embedded bitumen.

Henry shook his head. "Maybe I pushed him too hard." Henry yanked Kenta to his feet by the wrist, supported the weight with his shoulder, and waited for his friend to regain consciousness.

A few seconds later, Kenta's eyes fluttered open. He noticed that his old glasses were significantly scratched (on top of already having slightly deformed frames), and he looked down to see that the shins of his stone white cargo pants were quite blackened. "Gee, I guess I'm ready for the meeting now."

Henry sympathized. "If it will make things a bit more even, I won't shower."

"You and me: Stinky and Dirty," Kenta summarized. "So, what did you think? I ain't half bad, right?"

"You mean aside from eating the gravel? Sure, you held up pretty well. In fact, I think I'm going to give you my yellow belt. Now, keep in mind, officially, you won't be a yellow belt, but you've earned the right to wear it. Sensei sometimes let me wear his brown belt or his black belt as encouragement. I never got there, but it did inspire me to keep trying for that goal whenever I wanted to give up."

"I ain't trying to be ungrateful, but it seems to me that after all that training, I deserve something a little higher than a yellow belt. I'd rather wear no belt than a yellow belt. Yellow belts are degrading. Ever notice how the yellow Power Ranger is always disregarded?"

Henry sighed. "Fine, let's go back inside, and I'll give you my orange belt."

"Now that's more like it. Do you have an extra gi to go with it?"

"Don't push your luck." Henry walked to the hatchway, but before he descended, a nagging curiosity occurred to him. "Kenta, do you believe in reincarnation?"

Kenta searched his memories for a reason to believe. "I kinda believe in something like that. Back when we were all together for the first time as the Tamers, I remember thinking how it seemed like each of us was reincarnated from a Neon Genesis Evangelion character. Takato was Shinji, Rika was Asuka, Kazu was Toji, and I was Kensuke."

Rather than becoming upset at the triviality of Kenta's comparison, Henry played along. "Which one was I?"

"Oh, you were…now that's a good question. I wanna say Rei, but Jeri was the one who had her face on one of the D-Reaper's agents. Maybe you came from another series, or maybe you just ain't the type who gets reincarnated."

"I hope you're right. I want out of this sooner rather than later."

At 11:55 A.M., in the Wongs' apartment, Henry and Kenta were awaiting the other members of their team. A former teammate was with them, a somewhat unwelcome former teammate:

"Suzie, when are you going to start attending high school again?" Henry asked his sister. "I don't like the idea of you staying home all day. If you're not keeping up with your education, you won't be able to make it into college, and then your future will be–"

"–I know; I know! Dad's given me the lecture a dozen times already!" Suzie sat on the futon. Her older brother stood disapprovingly in front of her, but she would not be intimidated. She was vaguely aware that Kenta was also in the room. "The D-Reaper took over the high school, so I'm not able to learn anything right now. There's nothing I can do about it."

"You don't get to say that. Did Dad tell you that was a legitimate excuse? That's where he and I differ." Henry's voice was welded with restrained anger. "There's always something you can do. Read your textbooks. Buy some new textbooks. Read some reputable online documentation. Do what it takes to absorb new and useful knowledge every day, but don't sit on your ass and say that there's nothing you can do."

Suzie glared at Henry. "What about you? You're missing your classes right now! What's your excuse?"

"I'm going to get rid of the D-Reaper so you can go back to high school."

"We're gonna do it together," Kenta interjected. "It's gonna be a team effort. We're just waiting for the rest of our team to get here."

"You're going to fight the D-Reaper without any Digimon?" Suzie questioned. "Do you know how crazy that sounds? I'm glad I'm not on your suicide squad."

Henry smiled. "Actually, you _would've_ been part of the team, but I replaced you with a DigiDestined from the alternate universe. Thanks to me, you have more time to study. So, why don't you go to your room and read a schoolbook while the big kids have our meeting."

Suzie didn't appreciate Henry's patronizing tone, despite the good intentions behind it. "You're such an asshole!" Suzie stood up and walked to her room. She told herself that she wasn't obeying her brother; it was simply the end of their conversation.

"Gee, that went well," Kenta commented sarcastically.

"I got my point across. It might take a little while for her to accept it, but the teenage rebellion always loses to rationalization in the long run. Let me get you that orange belt I promised you." Henry went to his room. He removed his orange belt from its plastic storage container under his bed. He walked back to the living room and handed off the belt to Kenta. "Take good care of this belt."

Kenta noticed that the belt was perfectly folded and hardly faded. He tied it in the traditional style over the abdominal area of his orange t-shirt. "Orange on orange…hard to see, but at least it ain't clashing."

Henry's D-Tector beeped; he pressed the execute button to receive the message. "Who is it?"

"This is Wisemon," the voice from Henry's D-Tector responded. "It is precisely noon. Please bring the team to your computer for instructions."

"The rest of the team isn't here yet."

"Very well, which members of the team are present?" Wisemon asked.

"It's just me and Kenta. Do you want to start with just the two of us?"

Wisemon's undertone was one of disappointment. The notion of Kenta receiving a spirit still did not sit right with him. "No, we will wait for the rest of your team."

At 12:15 P.M., there was a knock at the Wongs' apartment door. Henry opened the door and allowed his new teammates to enter. Since Tomoki was the only non-stranger among the group, Henry looked to him for an answer:

"Why are you late?"

Daisuke answered on behalf of his new roommates:

"We would've gotten here sooner, but _somebody_" Daisuke glared at SlimeBakemon "had to stop at a dumpster behind a bakery for some two-day old peanut butter-filled rabbit head-shaped bread."

Kenta knew the bakery, and he knew the bread. "You guys had Guilmon bread? I ain't eaten Guilmon bread in years." Kenta looked questioningly at SlimeBakemon. "It's good stuff, dontya think?"

SlimeBakemon patted the lower half of his gelatinous body. "Yaaaahyaaaah, yummayumm."

The ghost digimon seemed familiar to Kenta, as did the boy with the goggles. Suddenly, Kenta was struck with the memory of their meeting outside Hazy's apartment. He remembered escorting Tomoki to Guilmon's cubbyhole, and he remembered handing out his personal information to his new friend, and he remembered that he never heard again from his new "friend." He focused on Tomoki's pale green eyes. "We've met before. It was the day you found out about your parents. You remember it, dontya?"

It was a stupid question. Tomoki couldn't forget that day, though he had forgotten about the boy with glasses who had reciprocated pity. Tomoki realized that he had made a social error in not calling or visiting Kenta, but he decided that it was best not to dwell on it. "Can we just say that _this_ is our first meeting?"

"Hey, _you're_ the orphan; that's why I thought you had wanted a friend. If you wanna start from scratch, that's fine too."

The rest of the team shifted nervously at the awkwardness of Kenta's offer. Daisuke broke the tension. "So, you know Tomoki. Allow the rest of us to introduce ourselves. My name is Daisuke Motomiya. I led the DigiDestined in our campaign to defeat MaloMyotismon, restoring peace to Earth and the Digital World."

Miyako went next. "My name is Miyako Inoue, and _I'll_ be leading this time around to avoid the inefficiencies proven to be inherent in Daisuke's leadership."

Daisuke turned to face Miyako. "What was that?"

"Did I stutter? I said that I'm going to be leading this team."

"My name is Cody," Cody said.

Daisuke shrugged. "If you want to be the leader, knock yourself out. It's not as easy as you think it is."

Miyako pushed up her glasses. "I'm an exceptional individual. I can handle the responsibility."

Henry whispered to Kenta:

"Those two must be our Misato and Kaji."

Kenta whispered to Henry:

"They ain't from Evangelion. Didntya ever watch the Digimon cartoon series?"

"No, I can't say that I have," Henry admitted.

Kenta was incredulous. "You mean you trained a Digimon, played the card game and the computer game, but never caught an episode of Digimon in syndication?"

"I was too busy with Terriermon, the card game, the computer game, and all the other shit I had to do. Besides, why would I need to watch a show about Digimon when I lived at the heart of the Digimon experience?"

"What are you two whispering about?" Tomoki asked. "Is it something that the rest of us need to know?"

Henry turned to his guests. "Kenta and I were just discussing the best way to inform you that Wisemon chose _me_ to be the leader."

Miyako stepped up to Henry's immediate vicinity. The smell hit her immediately, a somewhat familiar smell. Mentally, she tried to place it:

"He smells like Daisuke after a soccer game, back when he used to play soccer, that is. It's the aroma of athletic sweat, an olfactory cry for cleansing, and yet…and yet it's somewhat of an aphrodisiac. I should keep my distance." Miyako took a step back before initiating her interview with Henry. "What qualifies you to be the leader of this team?"

Henry stared through Miyako's glasses. He saw gleams of intelligence there, harbingers of a rivalry for dominance. "I was the de facto leader of the Digimon Tamers. My Digimon and I personally initiated the wormhole that expelled the D-Reaper from this planet. That's just my job experience. As for my intellectual capabilities, I'm an electrical engineering student at a reputable public–"

"–Can you program in C++, Visual Basic, and Fortran?" Miyako raised her head slightly. "Because _I_ can."

"I don't see how that's relevant," Henry retorted. "For one thing, Fortran is obsolete, a relic from back when my dad first started in the business."

"As I understand it, the D-Reaper is a renegade computer program. It will take computer programming to defeat it."

Henry scoffed. "If the programmers had done their job right the first time around, the D-Reaper wouldn't have come back." Henry noted the irrelevance of his _own_ argument, so he attempted a different approach. "I'm not saying that we won't need a programmer, but why should your computer programming skills make you the leader of this team? I can solve for unknown amperages on a circuit mesh, but does that make me a good leader?"

"Anyone who has taken a high school physics course can use Kirchhoff's Voltage and Current Laws!" Miyako bellowed. "But can you solve for thousands of unknown amperages by choosing the most efficient method? Did you know that LU Decomposition is not always the best approach?"

"Any way you type it in, you still get your answers; it's just a matter of time. The hard part is analyzing complex circuitry, using laws to create systems of equations, and assembling the matrices for you programmers."

Miyako retook the extra step that she had allotted between herself and Henry. "You're just applying basic algebra, occasionally some calculus. I have to learn _entire languages_."

"You've got a help menu to tell you exactly how to say what you want to say, and you've got a debugger for when you still manage to fuck it up. I don't have those luxuries. My job is harder."

"Oh yeah?" Miyako stepped closer to her verbal adversary.

"Yeah." No longer the passive boy he once was, Henry stepped closer to Miyako.

"Oh yeah?!" Miyako only had room for a slight step closer.

"Yeah!" Henry's nose was almost touching Miyako's.

Daisuke nudged Tomoki. "Don't you just love it when two superior minds engage in a deeply philosophical debate?"

Tomoki wasn't enjoying the "debate" quite as much as Daisuke. "Shouldn't we break it up?"

Daisuke shrugged. "I can't stop Miyako when she gets like this. It's like telling a Numemon not to throw poop. If you want to give it a shot, be my guest."

Tomoki accepted the challenge. He addressed the academic debaters in a calm yet firm tone. "Miyako, Henry, you guys both need to chill. We're all here to meet with Wisemon, and we're already late. We really don't want to get on his bad side. I've seen what he can do."

Henry took a step back. "Thank you, Tomoki; your priorities are my own. Let's all convene around the computer in my room." Henry motioned for his teammates to follow as he headed toward his room. "Sorry, it's going to be a little cramped in here." As predicted, with Henry, Kenta, Miyako, Daisuke, Tomoki, Cody, and SlimeBakemon crowding into a room made for one (though it held both Henry and his older brother originally), the room was quite densely populated. Unsure of exactly how to communicate with Wisemon, Henry spoke into his D-Tector and his computer simultaneously:

"Wisemon, sorry for the tardiness, but we're all here now, and we're ready to listen. We're anxious to know how we're supposed to beat the D-Reaper."

Henry's computer screen went blank, and a voice emanated from his speakers:

"First, you will tell me why you are so very late."

Miyako answered Wisemon's request. "Henry and I were discussing who amongst the two of us was most suited to be the leader of this eclectic team."

Henry holds the spirit of steel, the spirit of my ancestor. I already chose him to be the leader," Wisemon told Miyako. "However, I am willing to reconsider this decision; but first, I must know who is responsible for your lateness. Miyako, was it your fault?"

Miyako hesitated slightly before she started her response. "I don't think you can accurately place the entirety of the blame on one individual."

Henry did not hesitate. "I accept full responsibility. I should've made sure that the team arrived on time."

"Henry is the leader," Wisemon stated rigidly.

Miyako glared at Henry. She felt an inexplicable loathing for the attractive young engineering student.

Daisuke read Miyako's expression, and he knew what upset her. He put his hand on her shoulder. "He simply outclassed you, but don't feel bad. It happens to the best of us every once in a while…some more than others."

Miyako gave her oldest friend a slight smile. "You're my outclassing punching bag."

Wisemon continued. "Though I have chosen Henry to be the leader, all of you are necessary. Thus, I have given each of you spirit suits in order to protect you from the energy attacks of the D-Reaper's agents. As some of you have already discovered, these suits also have offensive capabilities. With the aid of objects of your spirit, you may perform diminutives of digimon attacks."

"Objects of my spirit?" Daisuke questioned aloud. "You mean when I sliced the Divermon with that stick?"

Wisemon generously answered Daisuke's question:

"Yes, as an example, Henry's spirit sneakers have 1095 steel spring soles that will increase his jumping height tenfold and allow him to charge his kicks. These individualized remnants survive from the time when the spirits belonged to the ancient warriors."

Daisuke didn't care about the historical trivia, nor did he care that the spoken theory was Miyako's. "I knew it had something to do with wood! It's a good thing I brought my baseball bat. So, this is how we're going to beat the D-Reaper."

"Daisuke, a good scientist never jumps to conclusions," Miyako scolded.

"But psychologists do it all the time." Unlike Miyako and Henry, Daisuke gave little esoteric merit to his own field of study, but of course, that was part of why he chose to study psychology.

"The digital energy attacks that you put into your spirit objects work just like digimon attacks," Wisemon reiterated. "You should ask Henry about the effectiveness of Digimon attacks against the D-Reaper. He has firsthand experience."

Grudgingly, in a somewhat sour voice, Miyako asked the question. "Henry, are Digimon attacks effective against the D-Reaper?"

Henry considered the matter carefully. "Digimon attacks can destroy the D-Reaper's agents, but as long as the core consciousness is still functioning, the D-Reaper will just build more agents. The D-Reaper seems to prefer to _re_build some of its larger agents, as a certain someone so wastefully proved in our last battle." Henry clenched his fist and switched to muttering. "I hate Ryo."

Daisuke caught Henry's declaration of hatred, but he misinterpreted it. "'Rio?' You mean that Duran Duran song? I hate it too."

Tomoki added his opinion. "For some reason, Junpei put 'Hungry Like the Wolf' on Kouichi's D-Tector, and I've listened to it a few times. I wouldn't say they're a bad band, just overrated. I don't think that they deserved to get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as quickly as they did." Tomoki slapped himself on the forehead. "Sorry, I was just saying what Junpei would've said if he were here. I think it's for the best that he and Izumi aren't a part of this team."

"You can think of them as an extension of your team," Wisemon told Tomoki. "According to the prophecy, the holders of the spirits of wind and thunder _will_ be necessary. To be on the safe side, I have also brought Takuya's spirit of flame out of retirement and given it to his replacement. I informed his replacement of this meeting. I am a little disappointed to see that the new warrior of flame decided to not attend."

"Didntya tell him that it was important?" Kenta needlessly asked.

Tomoki's sentimentalities were offended. "That is not cool; you can't 'replace' Takuya. The spirit of flame was retired to honor the memory of his sacrifice. Junpei, Izumi, and I wouldn't be alive if he hadn't worn out HellDiaboromon."

"As long as you remember him fondly, does it matter what becomes of his spirit?" Wisemon questioned.

"It matters," Tomoki rationalized rescinding his objection, "but it's alright; I suppose, if it's used in a way that Takuya would've wanted." There was another issue. "You said that Junpei and Izumi were done fighting. How can they still be necessary?"

"Tomoki, we will discuss the details of that matter later…in private." Wisemon's tone was ominous. "For now, think of them as an extra source of expert information. You can talk to them through your D-Tector. _All of you_ can communicate with every past DigiDestined (except for the foreign ones; inter-dimensional calls are acceptable, but I draw the line at international calls), Tamer, and legendary warrior through your D-Tectors." The Digivice/D-Tector numbers for Taichi, Yamato, Sora, Koushiro, Mimi, Jyou, Takeru, Hikari, Daisuke, Miyako, Cody, Ken, Takato, Henry, Rika, Jeri, Ryo, Kazu, Kenta, Suzie, Ai, Mako, Takuya, Kouji, Kouichi, Junpei, Izumi, Tomoki, Masaru, Touma, and Yoshino appeared on Henry's screen. "I suggest that all of you write down these numbers."

"I've got a better idea." Henry copied and pasted the names and numbers into a Word document. Then he sent six copies of the document to his printer. "Everybody gets a typed Tamer rolodex."

"Calling us all 'Tamers' is an inaccurate generalization," Miyako complained.

"Who were the last three names on the list?" Kenta asked. "I don't recognize them from any Digimon season." Kenta noticed that the rest of his teammates were staring at him as if he'd said something blasphemous. "…I mean…I don't recognize them from either dimension…not that I've been to the other dimension…I'm gonna just shut up now."

"The list does need to be amended," Wisemon admitted. "Kouji's number is now Cody's, Yamato requested an unlisted number, and Takato and Jeri's Digivices were confiscated upon their arrival in women's minimum security prison, so there is not much sense in calling them."

Miyako had an antisocial notion. "There are some people with whom I never want to converse again, namely Koushiro."

Daisuke was puzzled. "Dude, what's wrong with Koushiro? He could be really helpful; he _was_ really helpful. Remember when he gave us that whole lecture on DNA Digivolution?"

"We don't need his help anymore. I can do everything that Koushiro ever did, and I can do it without expecting instantaneous gratification. Koushiro is not all that different from Ken. They both had innate advantages, and they both squandered their gifts."

"I hear Koushiro got a pretty cushy government job," Daisuke countered. "If that's squandering, I totally want to squander when I graduate from college."

Miyako's eyes flashed, and she grabbed Daisuke by the collar of his vest. "Don't you ever say that again!" Miyako released Daisuke and recomposed herself. "We're not calling Koushiro, and that's final."

The decision wasn't so final to Tomoki. "I've talked to Koushiro a few times. He usually tells me that his time and advice are expensive, and that I have no right to ask him anything. Hmm, I suppose we're just as well without him." Tomoki tried to think of other suitable DigiDestined sources of useful information. He could only come up with one. "Jyou—we should definitely give Jyou a call when we need medical or preparedness advice. He also knows a lot of great ways to save money."

"Alright then, Jyou, Junpei, and Izumi are on our D-Tector buddy list," Daisuke summarized.

"Digitacktack nosogogo; wasadoodoodoo?" SlimeBakemon asked.

"He wants to know how we're supposed to beat the D-Reaper if our spirit attacks aren't going to work," Tomoki translated.

"I want to know from where this alleged 'digital energy' originates," Miyako requested.

"I want to know where Daemon is; he should've been here…" Daisuke pretended to check the time on his D-Tector. "…a while ago."

"I will send you an email with an attachment that should answer most of your questions. "After you read this attachment, there will be an opportunity to ask any remaining questions." Wisemon switched the screen to Henry's email, displaying the latest parcel in Henry's inbox. As promised, the email had an attachment, designated with the standard paperclip symbol.

"I don't like the sound of this. 'An opportunity to ask any remaining questions,' that sounds an awful lot like…" Henry clicked on the attachment. It was just as he suspected, a filename ending in ".ppt." "Damn it all, it _is_ a PowerPoint presentation! I hate PowerPoint presentations. I hate making them, and I detest having to read them." Nonetheless, Henry opened the file. As usual, it started with the title page:

"May 6, 2010

**How to Eliminate the D-Reaper**

Wisemon"

"PowerPoint presentations serve a worthwhile purpose," Miyako attested. "They allow people to communicate the major points of complex ideas to colleagues, professors, fellow associates, investors, and supervisors in a compressed and aesthetically pleasing manner."

"I still hate them." Henry clicked to the table of contents. "It's a bitch to prepare the file, it's nerve-racking to prepare the speech, and it hurts my eyes to read them. Kenta, you're an engineering student; back me up."

Henry's request for argumentative "backup" was surprising, but Kenta did his best. "…And how come everybody uses black and white or the standard layouts? I've gone through twelve student presentations in one class, and I swear I've seen the same white backdrop with primary trim seven times. If you're gonna make a mind-numbing presentation about damped harmonic oscillators, at least have the decency to choose a custom color scheme."

"Nice work, Kenta." Henry went to the first page of actual information. He didn't read the PowerPoint word-for-word. As a presenter, he had adapted to rewording slides; he knew there was a sizable grade deduction for reading directly from the slides. "Charging objects of our spirit with digital energy can destroy the D-Reaper's agents…we know that already." Henry clicked on the next page. "This digital energy comes from faith in ourselves, trust in each other (now that's redundant), and ambient kinetic energy in the atmosphere."

"That answers my question," Miyako interjected, "though only one of those sources is even remotely plausible."

Henry continued. "Digital energy attacks are most effective against Digimon, and the D-Reaper isn't a Digimon (no kidding). The D-Reaper must be directly deleted with a deletion attack." Henry clicked on the next page. "The holder of the negative energy spirits (the spirits of ice and darkness) can perform deletion attacks with objects of his spirit."

"Whoa, I can perform deletion attacks, and I'm the only one; that is so cool!" Then the burden of the ability set in for Tomoki. "That also explains why chucking snow at SlimeBakemon caused brain damage. I must have deleted part of his brain. Why are ice and darkness the 'negative' spirits?"

Miyako took a stab at answering Tomoki's question. "It's probably because they represent the absence of forms of energy. Cold is the absence of heat, and darkness is the absence of light, a form of radiant energy."

Henry continued. "Alternative ways of performing deletion attacks must be created for the holders of the other spirits. Weapons of mass deletion must be purchased or constructed."

The burden stabilized in a perceived sense of pointlessness for Tomoki. "I'm probably going to need one of those weapons too. If I carry ice cubes and snowballs, they'll melt, and I don't know how to carry darkness."

Henry continued. "The core consciousness has evolved too far for deletion attacks. The warrior of steel must capture the core consciousness in an infinite loop using a handheld steel-coated containment unit with 500 zettabytes of storage capacity. Where the hell am I supposed to get one of those?" Henry clicked on the next slide. The aforementioned containment unit flew off the screen and into his non-clicking hand. It appeared to be a simple steel rod, approximately 2.6 centimeters in diameter and 90 centimeters in length. "I've never seen a PowerPoint presentation do _that_ before. At least I didn't get hit in the face with a pie chart." Henry clicked on the next slide. "To prevent the containment unit from falling into the wrong hands, the device will send a moderate electric shock to any handlers other than the warrior of steel." Henry clicked on the next slide. "This device is missing a key component—the Juggernaut program. We have to acquire the program on a jump drive and insert it into the containment unit's USB port."

"Swell, where do we get this Juggernaut program?" Daisuke asked.

"With any luck, my dad stole a copy from Hypnos." Henry shook his head. "Stealing trade secrets is risky business. My dad knows better than to do something like that. We're just going to have to ask Yamaki really nicely if we can have a copy of the program. While we're at it, we should ask for the Yuggoth program. That might be the best way to construct our deletion weapons."

"The intellectual proprietor might be feeling more generous if I promise to improve upon the programs," Miyako suggested.

Henry shot down the inflated offer. "Experts with decades of experience made the programs. I doubt that there's anything you could do to make them better."

Miyako was about to say something provocative, but Tomoki cut her off with something progressive:

"Can we go to the next slide now?"

Henry clicked on the next slide. "The local gradual increases in temperature over the past few years were caused by the D-Reaper. The D-Reaper's agents generate a lot of heat (I remember hearing something about that)." Henry clicked on the next slide. "By analyzing detailed thermal patterns, the location of the greatest concentration of the D-Reaper's agents can be determined, and therefore, the most likely location of the core consciousness." Henry clicked on the next slide. "It's the summary slide."

"Gee, I wonder what the next slide is gonna say." Kenta knew exactly what the slide would say. His sarcasm was overkill.

Henry clicked on the last slide:

"Questions?"

"That concludes the presentation. Do you have any questions?" Wisemon asked.

Daisuke spoke up. "Would it have killed you to use a font other than Arial? Just once, I'd like to see a PowerPoint done entirely in Rockwell Extra Bold, or maybe Goudy Stout. Dude, Showcard Gothic would totally blow some minds."

"I find you to be particularly annoying," Wisemon told Daisuke.

Daisuke smirked. "You know, I get that a lot."

"Does anyone have any _legitimate_ questions?"

Tomoki had one. "What are we supposed to call ourselves?"

Daisuke had several suggestions, all based on obscure punk songs:

"We're Nitro (Youth Energy). We're the New Patron Saints and Angels. We're Free Radio Gainesville. We're Charity, Chastity, Prudence, and Hope. We're Defusing the Popular Struggle. We're the new revolution, the angst-filled adolescents; we fit the stereotype well."

Kenta joined in the name game:

"We're Frustrated Incorporated, or, since half of us come from the televised dimension, Syndicated Incorporated."

"As long as you carry the spirits, you are still the legendary warriors," Wisemon adamantly dubbed.

"Still? The majority of us never were legendary warriors," Miyako pointed out.

"Very well, you are the new legendary warriors."

"But I'm not new to it," Tomoki protested. "I was part of the last crew of legendary warriors."

Wisemon saw no clear resolution to the conflict, so he called upon his leader:

"Henry, could you please come up with a suitable name for the team?"

Henry deliberated aloud. "You say that we're all legendary warriors because we have the spirits of ancient digimon. Unlike the last team of legendary warriors, we can't become digimon, nor can we tame Digimon, nor can we cheer for partner Digimon. We've got suits to protect us, but other than that, we're on our own." Henry's tone was inspiringly solemn. "The front lines for this war are in the real world. We are tapping the limits of human potential to establish our resistance against the ultimate inhumanity. We are _real_ warriors. We are the Real Legendary Warriors."

"I second that name," Kenta declared.

"I third it." Tomoki turned to his roommates. "I know this world isn't yours, but are you with us anyway?" Tomoki held out his hand, palm towards the floor.

Daisuke placed his hand on Tomoki's. "Dude, I'm with you."

Cody placed his hand on Daisuke's.

"Meemodoodoo." SlimeBakemon added his drippy hand to the pile.

Miyako noted the expectant stares from Tomoki, Cody, and Daisuke. She glanced briefly at Henry, and then she turned back to her roommates. "Call us what you will; a conglomeration of previously digitized entities by any other name would function identically." Miyako added her hand to the pile.

"I ain't got much to offer, but I'm reliable, and that's more than you can say for the people who didn't show up today." Kenta threw in his hand.

To Henry, Kenta's trait contrasted not with the absent Daemon, nor with the absent replacement for Takuya, but rather, with the absent father who helped to create the enemy that his team was slated to destroy. Henry put his hand on top of the pile. "We are the Real Legendary Warriors, and…insert your team slogan here."

"We fight the good fight," Tomoki stated.

"Ditto," Cody said.

"We never give up," Daisuke assured.

"We're superior to all other sentient beings," Miyako overstepped.

"Yaaaahyaaaah, gogobustaz," SlimeBakemon babbled.

Kenta had a wide range of heroic quotes from which to pilfer. He chose one of the more underrated ones. "We are a justice sandwich, no toppings necessary."

Henry eyed Kenta quizzically; then he shook it off. "Alright, say it with me, and we'll throw our hands up to finish this cliché. We are…"

"…The Real Legendary Warriors," Henry, Kenta, Miyako, Daisuke, Tomoki, and Cody said simultaneously in a somewhat lackluster fashion. Then they threw their hands up and began to drift away from each other.

"Who wants to guess what we do first?" Henry instigated.

"Dontya wanna wait for your dad or Yamaki to give us those programs?"

"Kenta, waiting is never a step in a well-managed plan. We will build those WMD's now, and we will put in the Yuggoth program when we have it."

"I respectfully disagree; the acronym is PEW. We want to build portable electronic weapons." Miyako pulled out her USB key. "I have a program that can convert mechanical oscillations into charge for a PEW battery. I just need–" Miyako paused. She didn't like using the word "need" when asking for assistance. She didn't "need" anybody's help. With enough time, she could learn every skill on the planet. "I have yet to complete my research, so someone with expertise in electronics will have to arrange the surrounding wiring scheme."

"That would be me, but there's more to building a PEW (Why does the name matter?) than just programs and circuitry," Henry pointed out. "First, we need to design the main functional aspects and bodies of these things. I can handle the 'portable' and the 'electronic,' but I'll admit that I'm not so knowledgeable when it comes to 'weapons.' Are there any weapons experts among us?"

Cody raised his hand.

"Good, then…" Henry hadn't caught Cody's name during the introduction phase. "…you can help me by giving me background information on the internal workings and general appearance of handguns, sniper rifles, or whatever you prefer."

"I don't know too much about how guns work, but I used to practice a lot with my Blizzard Blaster, and I'm a pretty good shot. I'll volunteer to test anything you build," Tomoki offered.

"Thanks, but that's not terribly helpful considering that you'll have to use them anyway," Henry told Tomoki. "For the bodies, we're going to need material. Aluminum is lightweight, durable, and cheap. Who wants to order the aluminum from a raw materials distributor?"

This was Tomoki's chance for redemption. "We don't have to order aluminum. I have about a hundred empty tuna cans. We just need to melt them down when we're ready to cast with them."

"You should try to recycle," Henry had to encourage environmentalism, "but how are we supposed to melt aluminum?"

With a "bamf!" sound, Daemon appeared in the room. "I am sorry that I am so late for this meeting. I had trouble finding this apartment in my teleportation dimension."

"Googoo aloom?" SlimeBakemon asked Daemon.

"He wants to know if you can melt aluminum," Tomoki translated.

"Yes, I probably could melt aluminum with my Flame Inferno attack," Daemon answered.

"Shaproto, meemodoodoo," SlimeBakemon said.

"He says that he can be the exact shape of the body." It took Tomoki a few seconds to figure out the purpose of SlimeBakemon's proposed assistance. "We can use that shape to make the mold."

"Considering the cost of tooling and machining, that will save us a fortune. Shipping the frames from China alone would be…more than I have in my bank account," Henry estimated. "So, Tomoki, Daemon, and SlimeBakemon will construct the bodies."

"Why would the frames be made in China?" Daisuke asked.

"Have you been paying attention to trends of the past twenty years? Everything that used to be made here is made in China now. The workforce doesn't have the Japanese-American sense of entitlement."

"No, I don't pay attention to trends," Daisuke retorted glibly. "Why are you so keen on human rights violations? Is it because your last name's Wong?"

Henry clenched his fist. "I'm half Chinese, but that's irrelevant."

"A half-breed? I knew it was possible, but I didn't think I'd have to go to another dimension to meet one. Do you put MSG on your sushi?"

Henry prevented himself from punching Daisuke by grabbing his own wrist. In a grated voice:

"I eat lots of hardboiled egg whites, but that's also irrelevant. Now tell me, what is it that _you_ do? What is _your_ skill? Because as far as I can tell, you're just here to piss me off."

"I'll show you what I can do, and I'll entertain you in the bargain." Daisuke took one of the Digivice/D-Tector number lists from Henry's printer. "For this to work, I need to imagine that I'm only bothered by thoughts of evil and broken homes." Daisuke closed his eyes and concentrated. "Now, how does my voice sound? Miyako, do I sound like Takeru?"

"I can't recall Takeru's voice signature," Miyako admitted, "but you sound different."

"Different is good." Daisuke dialed Hikari's number on his D-Tector. After four rings, he got a reply.

"Hello, is somebody calling me on my Digivice?" Hikari wondered aloud. "Takeru, is that you?"

"Right, I know we usually call each other by cell phone, but I thought it would be neat to try calling each other this way." Daisuke winked to his audience.

"Your voice sounds strained. Are you feeling okay?"

"Actually, I've got a bit of a cold, nothing serious, but it was enough to cut classes for the day."

"It doesn't take much, does it?"

Daisuke did his best to keep his hatred for the angels from permeating into his impression. "No, it doesn't. Anyway, I just heard about this reality show that they're filming at the mall. They installed hidden cameras in one of the men's restrooms. It's a contest to see who can give the most blowjobs in a four hour period. The winner gets an awesome prize."

Hikari had so many questions. "Which mall?"

"The one we usually go to."

"Which men's restroom?"

"The one by the women's restroom."

"What time of day is the four hour period?"

"You should probably go at it all day to be on the safe side."

"What's the prize?"

"I just know that it's awesome—totally worth disgracing yourself in front of millions of viewers."

"In that case, I'll get to the mall right now and start sucking some cock."

"Right, you do that. Gook luck, I hope you win."

"I _know_ I'll win. I'm a born winner." Hikari hung up.

Daisuke ended the call. "Alright guys, you can let it out now."

The Real Legendary Warriors burst into laughter at Hikari's expense. Once the reflex was out of the way, Daisuke got his applause, a well deserved thirty seconds. In a tone absent of irritation, Henry said what his team was thinking:

"Now I see your value. You have people skills. I'm sure you'll do something legitimately helpful somewhere along the line."

Daisuke was glad that his role was established. "Well, since you won't be needing me for a while, and since I'm in a foreign dimension, I think I'll go sightseeing while you guys work on building those weapons."

"Don't push your luck," Henry told Daisuke. "You don't need a doctorate to mix concrete. You can help make the castings."

"We'll make the molds on the rooftop of my apartment. That's where I'm keeping the tuna cans." Tomoki saw a problem with his assignment. "Uh, how are we supposed to make these things without knowing what they look like?"

Henry pointed at Cody again. "He and I will design the bodies based on modern standards for automatic or semiautomatic weapons. That shouldn't take too long. Then you, Daisuke, and the Digimon can work on constructing the molds while…the weapons expert and I decide on the internal mechanisms. That should take a bit longer, especially since we'll have to work with Miyako on an electrical system that's compatible with her power source. While you're waiting for designs of the bodies, I suggest buying the supplies that you'll need for the job. You'll need concrete mix, something to mix it in, and something to stir it with."

Daisuke knew how to handle condescension. "You don't say? I was just going to mix concrete with my bare hands, but now I know better. Thanks ever so much."

Tomoki had something to say to Daemon, something he didn't want Cody to hear, so he whispered the suggestion. "You know how you ended up getting that bottle of tequila for free? Could you do the same thing for our concrete supplies?"

"I thought that was stealing," Daemon whispered back.

"If the store owner knew we were saving the world, I know he'd be cool with us taking anything we needed. You should see what the digimon gave to Junpei and Izumi as wedding presents after he saved the digital world. A little concrete is nothing in comparison."

Daemon couldn't argue with morality in relativity. "I am starting to think that you humans are a bad influence."

Henry attempted a conclusion. "We all have our tasks. Now we just need to–"

"–Not _all_ of us," Miyako interrupted. "Your obsequious confidant has been given no assignment. Is indolence a fringe benefit of unquestioningly accepting your role as the leader?"

Henry considered Miyako's accusation to be absurd. "Kenta is a mechanical engineer. His expertise will be of value as we collaborate in our design."

"I have expertise?" Though flattering, Kenta couldn't allow the unfounded claim. "I'm barely able to use the parallel axis theorem. I'm a mechanical engineering _student_; I ain't qualified to design anything."

Henry attempted words of comfort. "Kenta, we're all students. None of us are qualified. Just do the best you can."

"That's insufficient," Miyako protested. "If your sidekick cannot guarantee productivity, he should not be receiving one of our products."

Kenta could've offered to help in any number of alternate ways, but something about being the only Real Legendary Warrior without a PEW suddenly appealed to him. "I don't need a gun. Real heroes don't need guns. Besides, I have the spirit of earth. The whole planet is my weapon."

"Now that's the positive attitude I expect out of you." Henry redirected his pleased expression toward Miyako. "My sidekick, as you call him, is a diamond in the rough. He's much less annoying than your sidekick."

"I'm not Miyako's sidekick," Daisuke corrected. "I'm her frustratingly platonic best friend."

"Weesamunchy," SlimeBakemon suggested.

"We're overdue for lunch," Tomoki agreed.

"You're my guests, so I have to feed you all." Henry did not revel in the social obligation; he wasn't looking forward to having to cook and clean up after a party of eight (including himself).

Suzie popped into the already overcrowded room. "Henry, when are you going to make lunch for us?"

Henry sighed. Including his sister, it would be a party of nine, but it wouldn't be a "party." With no sex, no music, no drugs, and no alcohol, no college student would dare to call this sort of affair a "party."

Daisuke exited Henry's room and headed toward the kitchen. "Come on, let's get this party started."

Henry boiled two dozen eggs for himself and his guests. He had to share stove space with Daisuke. Daisuke boiled a communal pot of noodles. As it happened, the eggs finished at the same time as the noodles, and Henry and Daisuke argued over who would have the right to drain his pot first in the kitchen sink. Since it was his home, Henry got to drain his water first. Daisuke drained his noodles thirty seconds later. Henry chilled his eggs in his freezer while Daisuke added various spices and sauces to his noodles. Henry peeled his eggs and removed the yokes with little to no wasted movements. While Henry and Daisuke combined their preparations into individual serving bowls, Kenta and Tomoki cleaned their pots and strainers.

By 2:00 P.M., the noodle and egg dishes were served and in the process of being consumed. Tomoki, Cody, Suzie, SlimeBakemon, and Daemon sat at the kitchen table, nicknamed the "kiddy table" for this occasion. Of course, Tomoki, Cody, and Suzie were trusted to eat neatly by age fourteen, but SlimeBakemon and Daemon were not trusted to eat anywhere but upon the kitchen table. Despite this distrust, no major spills occurred.

Henry, Kenta, Miyako, and Daisuke sat on the futon. Kenta sat at the right end. Henry sat next to Kenta. Miyako sat next to Henry. Daisuke sat next to Miyako. There was just enough room for the four of them, so thighs were touching, but as adults, they were completely professional about the situation:

"It's kinda cramped on this futon," Kenta complained.

Henry grabbed a piece of egg white with his chopsticks. "No kidding, but just live with it. As a team, we should sit together, so that's what we're doing."

Miyako found that Henry's dried sweat stench did nothing to hinder her appetite. If anything, it made her hungrier, as did her snug placement between Henry and Daisuke. She was reluctant to admit this to herself. "This seating is adequate."

Daisuke was content having his thigh pressed against Miyako's. "Henry's right; we should do this more often."

"So I'm the only one who doesn't like sitting like this? I feel like the kingside bishop." Kenta looked curiously at the brown noodles in his bowl. "Henry, are you sure it's okay for me to be eating noodles?"

"Ordinarily, I would say no; most noodles are pretty high in carbohydrates. Noodles aren't on my diet, and I suggest that you not include them in yours." Henry shoved some noodles into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. "It's not every day that a Tamer from another dimension comes here and cooks for us. Daisuke went to the trouble of making these noodles, and it would be rude not to eat them." Henry shoveled in some more noodles. "Besides, he did a pretty good job with the flavoring. By all appearances, he was just using a bunch of random spices from the pantry, but I think he actually knew what he was doing."

"Dude, when it comes to making noodles, I always know what I'm doing. When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be a noodle cart salesman."

"You _do_ grow up to be a noodle cart salesman, a _famous_ noodle cart salesman." Kenta couldn't help it; the can of worms was opened.

"No noodle cart salesman in history has ever been famous. Why would I be any different?" Daisuke realized that Kenta's prediction was inappropriately confident. "How do you know what I grow up to be?"

"Didntya know? Your dimension is a syndicated animated series. I've seen every episode of Digimon at least three times. I saw Jyou jump on Unimon. I saw Koushiro lose his will to Vademon. I saw MaloMyotismon coming a mile away, and I saw how you avoided his spell by pretending that you didn't have any self-doubts."

Daisuke was flattered. "That was my best moment as the leader of the DigiDestined, the one that made up for all the screw-ups…or so I've convinced myself. I'm glad somebody saw it, but that still doesn't explain how you know what I grow up to be."

"At the end of the series, Takeru narrates your futures twenty-five years later. He says that Taichi becomes a diplomat, Yamato becomes an astronaut, Sora becomes a fashion designer, Mimi becomes a chef–"

"–The writers of the show must've been drunk, stoned, or tripping, because none of that shit happens." Daisuke refocused on his own future. "I don't become a noodle cart salesman. I go to college, I struggle to graduate, and I wonder what I'm going to do with my psychology degree. That's _my_ future."

"Just out of scientific curiosity, what is forecast for my future?" Miyako inquired.

"You marry Ken and become a housewife."

Miyako was almost outraged, but then she remembered that it was just a television show. "Even if the majority of the show was an accurate depiction, I think we can disregard this alleged epilogue."

Daisuke slurped down a bundle of noodles. "Right, you can't let some TV show tell you what to do. We might be DigiDestined, but ultimately, we choose our own destiny."

Meanwhile, at the kiddy table, Tomoki began a haphazard investigation:

"Cody, I already know a lot about Miyako and Daisuke, but I don't know too much about you. You're awfully quiet most of the time."

Cody wanted to say that his Digimon partner was a friendly yellow woodland creature with a country accent and a special move that resembled Sonic the Hedgehog's Spin Dash Attack. Cody wanted to say that he was driven to become a police officer because he wanted to be like his father, except for the dying in the line of duty part. Cody wanted to know exactly which members of the Yakuza set up the ambush, and he wanted vengeance. Cody wanted to say that Daisuke and Miyako were his friends while the Earth and the Digital World were threatened by the Digimon Emperor and evil Digimon, but when there was peace, his friends drifted away. Cody was particularly hurt by Miyako's snubbing (as he perceived it) since they were friends before they were DigiDestined, and since they continued to live in the same apartment building. Cody wanted to say all sorts of things about himself, but he didn't think anyone would care. "There's not much to say."

Tomoki didn't accept Cody's answer. "There's always something to say, and there's always something to hide. There are some things I've lived through that I'll never tell, and I get the feeling that maybe you've lived through some bad stuff too. If you don't want to talk about it, that's cool, but you might feel better if you get some of your issues out in the open."

Suzie looked at Tomoki conspicuously. What he said was true. Though they had been friends for years, she did not know the whole story behind the goggles and the old shirt. She had heard that the shirt used to be red, and she assumed that it had been bleached. Tomoki's secrecy bothered her. There were many aspects of Tomoki's life that bothered her preconceived notions of the way teenagers ought to live.

Cody appreciated Tomoki's interest, but he didn't want to get too attached to a new friend. "Like I said, there's not much to say."

It was agreed that Tomoki, SlimeBakemon, Miyako, and Daisuke would return to Tomoki's apartment while Henry and Cody designed the portable electronic weapons. Once the body was decided upon, Daemon would teleport back to Tomoki's apartment with several copies of the print along with the necessary casting supplies. Cody would sleep over in Henry's room, as would Kenta, and they would have a creative input slumber party (or so it was dubbed).

By 6:00 P.M., the bodies had been chosen, and Daemon had left with Henry and Cody's casting proposal. It didn't take long for Cody to explain to Henry how the typical firearm worked. It certainly helped that Henry was able to find schematics online for Cody to describe, though Henry probably would've been able to figure out the functionalities on his own. Since Cody's limited expertise was divulged, his job was done. He sat down in the living room and watched TV. He didn't get to choose what he watched; Suzie controlled the remote. It was a show about how ridiculously rich girls celebrated their sixteenth birthdays. Somehow, it passed the standards for both reality and music television. Cody fell asleep, while on the opposite side of the futon, Suzie hadn't even noticed that Cody had entered the room.

Back in Henry's room, behind a closed door, Henry and Kenta were brainstorming ways to combine electronic and mechanical components into a portable electronic weapon. Actually, the storm clouds had passed, and they were gossiping:

"Why do you think that new warrior of flame didn't show up, and who do you think he is?" Henry had several theories. "Do you think Wisemon managed to find Rika? Maybe he got Takato out of jail. I specifically refused to have Ryo on the team, so I know he didn't choose Ryo."

"No, he didn't choose Ryo." Kenta knew who the new warrior of flame had to be. "Didntya hear? He's Takuya's replacement. Takuya was replaced long before the D-Reaper made its comeback tour."

Henry didn't get what Kenta was hinting at, partly because he had no idea who Takuya was, but mostly because a new and very troubling thought had occurred to him. "What if Wisemon made Suzie the warrior of flame? He wanted to make her the warrior of light, but he knew that I wouldn't approve. Maybe he slipped her a spirit behind my back. I have to know." Henry threw open the door to his room, and he rushed into the living room. "Suzie! Suzie! Did somebody talk to you through your computer and change your Digivice? Suzie?" Henry couldn't find Suzie in her usual location on the futon. All he saw was a slumbering Cody. He shook Cody awake and looked down at him anxiously. "Where's Suzie?"

Cody yawned. "She was sitting right here."

Henry was tempted to shake Cody again. "Where is she _now_?"

Kenta joined Henry in the living room. "Her room is empty, and she ain't in the bathroom."

"Thanks Kenta, but I already knew that. She never misses an episode of whatever the hell she watches at six o'clock. If one of her friends called, she might have been willing to shut off the TV, but it's not like her to go out without leaving a note."

Kenta spotted a folded piece of paper under an anthropomorphized sun magnet on the Wongs' refrigerator. "She did leave a note." Kenta pulled the note off of the fridge and read it. "But she didn't write it." Kenta handed the note to Henry.

Henry read the note. As he read, the section of forehead directly above his nose fell downward into a versatile expression of hate, anger, and anxiety:

Janyu,

I have asked you repeatedly for the password to the inter-dimensional portal program. Since Gorou Mizuno has disappeared, you are the only one who has access. You have refused to give me this password.

The city is in a state of emergency. I have told you that Hypnos requires the inter-dimensional portal. You have responded by questioning me as to why it is needed. You should know that in a state of emergency, your place is not to question, but to cooperate with your government and its agencies. Since you have been uncooperative thus far, I have confiscated your daughter. If you want her returned unharmed, I suggest that you start cooperating.

Regards,

Yamaki

P.S. Though coerced, Gorou was steadfastly uncooperative. I assure you that his disappearance was involuntary.

Henry refolded the note and put it back under the sun magnet. His lack of reactionary dialogue was noticeable.

Kenta had a plan, but he didn't have the authority. "So, what are we gonna do?"

Henry pondered the matter a few more seconds before giving his response. "We have to pay Hypnos a visit anyway to get the Yuggoth and Juggernaut programs. While we're there, we'll take back Suzie…and we'll kick a whole lot of ass."

Kenta found that Henry's forethoughts, though crude, were the same as his own. "Great and frustrated minds think alike."

Cody hadn't seen the letter, so he was confused. "Suzie isn't visiting a friend?"

Henry was about to explain the situation to the kid whose name he still did not know, but that was when the apartment door opened.

Mr. Wong entered his home. "Hi kids! Your attentive and progressive father is home from work—_before_ your mother. Henry, I'm sorry I couldn't attend your meeting, but you can tell me all about it." Mr. Wong noticed something amiss. "Isn't Suzie usually sitting on the futon right about now watching those television programs that ought to have illusionment disclaimers?"

Henry gave his father an accusatory glare. "Dad, we need to have a chat."

"A father-son chat?"

Henry shook his head.

"You know I hate it when you do that." By Henry's expression, it was clear that the chat would involve more than just a father and son. Mr. Wong often found himself envying the fathers of simple boys with simple problems. Just once, he wanted Henry to ask him for advice about girls.

Back in Tomoki's apartment, Tomoki, SlimeBakemon, and Daisuke were awaiting the arrival of Daemon with the casting prints and equipment. For all they cared, Daemon could take his time. Like most union laborers, Tomoki and Daisuke were in no rush. Tomoki sat on his bed, and he conversed with his longtime long-distance friend:

"Cody doesn't say much, does he?"

Daisuke sat on his sleeping bag. "Cody's always been a quiet kid. He said something about his grandfather dying a few years back. That might have changed him, or it might have made him more the same. I just started in psychology, so when I profile someone, don't expect anything specific."

Tomoki had his own profile of Cody. "I think he's a cowboy."

"Dude, I don't think Cody's ever even seen a cow in person."

"I don't mean literally a cowboy. I mean he looks and acts like the heroes in American Westerns. He takes the shit role without complaining, and when it's time to play the sheriff, he does it modestly."

"I see what you mean. By that definition…" Daisuke thought of someone better for the role. "Henry's Deputymon—What's his name? Kenta? If anybody's the cowboy, I think it might be him. I've got a good feeling about that kid. Anybody who considers me to be a TV icon can't be all bad."

"Uh, I don't recall him saying that he considered you to be a TV icon."

Daisuke's back was getting sore from sitting on the floor without a backrest. "It was implied."

While Tomoki and Daisuke discussed which members of their team they believed to be "cowboys," Miyako sat at Tomoki's computer. "I want to sketch a model of the oscillation mechanism entailed in my program. Tomoki, do you have any CAD software?"

"What's CAD software?" Tomoki asked.

"It's an acronym for computer-aided design software. I'll settle for AutoCAD." Miyako waited, and then she sighed. "I'll just use Microsoft Paint. I have no way of knowing if your hypothetical software would be compatible with Henry's anyway."

Daisuke caught a problem. "Just how do you plan to get this drawing to Henry?"

"Via email; how else?"

"Do you know Henry's email?"

"I…neglected to gather that piece of information." Miyako attempted to turn her error into an intention. "I have to meet with him tomorrow in person anyway to discuss how the power source will connect to the functional components."

"You could just call him with your D-Tector and ask him for his email address," Daisuke suggested smugly.

"No, that won't be necessary. In fact, I don't even need to make him a drawing. My explanations should suffice—if he is reasonably intelligent."

"I think he is. I hear that the smartest people are secure enough to not have to use big words all the time."

Miyako's fuse was lit. "What are you implying?"

"It's just a psychological rumor; it's only personal if you see yourself in it."

"I find your circuitous speech to be irksome."

Daisuke had been prodding for the cue. "If you want to talk straight, then let's step out into the hallway."

Miyako rose from her seat at Tomoki's computer, and she and Daisuke exited the apartment. She allowed the door to slam closed, and then she demanded a reason:

"What is so potentially inflammatory that you can't say it in front of Tomoki?"

Daisuke did not hesitate. "What do you think of Henry?"

"I think he's arrogant, overrated, and unsuitable to be our leader."

"You don't say?" Daisuke allowed a grin to escape the left side of his mouth, but not the right. "He seems like everything you could possibly want in a man. If I were you, I would be creaming through my cargo pants over him."

Miyako was taken aback. Daisuke was practically telling her to buy from his competitor. "…I appreciate your vulgar candidness."

"It's my best feature."

Miyako recomposed herself. "I have no interest in Henry. I have no interest in starting a relationship with _anyone_ right now. I'm far too busy."

"In the past, you've excused yourself from starting a relationship with me by saying that you were 'seeing someone.' Weren't you busy then?"

"Those were not intimate relationships—merely impersonal academic relationships. I was…" Miyako rapidly searched for the mildest innuendo. "…gleaning information."

"You ever stop to think that maybe you drown yourself in work so that you don't have to have a personal life?" Daisuke added a buffer. "It's just a thought."

"It's a rather unpleasant one…and it has no merit." Miyako's voice lacked its usual confidence.

"If you say so."

Miyako sensed lingering skepticism. "Really, I'm not a workaholic."

Daemon stumbled into the hallway. "Good evening, I hope you all are well."

Daisuke noticed that Daemon arrived empty-handed. "You were supposed to get us those concrete supplies."

"Concrete supplies?" Daemon tried to recall what was expected of him. "Yes, I meant to go buy concrete supplies, but I also knew that I would have some extra time. Since this is the dimension where I brought Ryo, I thought I would visit him. That is what I did. We went to a festive gentlemen's club. It was Happy Hour. We had a few drinks, and then we had a few more drinks. Now I am feeling tired." Daemon fell forward and passed out on the hallway carpet.

Daisuke frowned disapprovingly at the cloaked heap on the floor. "I think I liked him better when he was throwing fireballs at us."

Just as Miyako and Daisuke had exited, a familiar snow cone appeared on Tomoki's computer screen. Of course, this was no ordinary snow cone:

"I see that you are finally able to speak with me in private." Wisemon realized that SlimeBakemon was still in range. "SlimeBakemon, could you please join Miyako and Daisuke outside of the room for a few minutes?"

"Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of my business partner," Tomoki told Wisemon. "I promise you that he won't repeat anything he hears."

"Very well, but what I am about to say you may not relate to any of the other spirit holders."

"How come?"

"If your teammates consider your future actions to be treacherous, they may prevent you from carrying out your destiny."

Tomoki was confused. "But I thought destinies couldn't be changed. If destinies aren't certain, then what's the point of Bokomon's book? It said that the legendary warrior who defeated HellDiaboromon would become the king of the digital world, and that's what happened. Junpei and Izumi were covered by that prophecy. Their destiny was settled." Tomoki didn't notice the tinge of bitterness that entered his voice. He was caught up in the buzz of "destiny." "I still don't know what _my_ destiny is, so if you've got one for me, I'd like to hear it."

Wisemon was almost startled by Tomoki's susceptibility to manipulation, but the true test was yet to come. "Once Junpei and Izumi have made their contributions to our cause, your destiny is to kill them."

Tomoki was silent for a few seconds. "…Whoa, you can't be serious. They're my oldest friends. They're like the parents I'll never see again. Why should I kill them?"

Wisemon rephrased his request to something more reasonable. "Literally, you will not kill them. You will digitize them in the digital world, and you will bring their eggs back to Earth. You must understand; they are humans. They were never meant to live in the digital world. Recently, they have been negligent in the duties that allowed them to stay. They allowed every Mega level digimon to be absorbed by Azulongmon."

"But _you're_ Azulongmon!" Tomoki exclaimed.

Wisemon had hoped that Junpei and Izumi had not passed along the puppetry secret to Tomoki. This hope was dashed, but Wisemon refused to give up on cajoling Tomoki's destiny. "That is beside the point. Do you have any idea what Junpei and Izumi have become? They are indolent, hedonistic, and revoltingly beautiful."

"They've always been indolent and hedonistic," Tomoki retorted, "and Izumi has always been revoltingly beautiful. I know Junpei got really buff, but that's about all that's changed."

"If you recall, they also had a son. They gave him _your_ name. Is it right for a child to be raised by such irresponsible parents?"

Tomoki felt himself beginning to agree, but then he snapped himself out of it. "It still beats having no parents. I should know."

"You think you know?" Wisemon would have to grasp at Tomoki's innermost strings. "You wear Takuya's shirt and goggles. You have taken Takuya's last name. All this time, you were searching for a role model—and was it Takuya? Was it your brother? Your brother liked to give speeches, but he accomplished very little, and he was not much of a brother to you. You thought Takuya would be a better older brother. Yes, he cared about you, but he left you just the same. Deep down, you know that there was very little difference between Takuya and Yutaka. Deep down, though you wear his goggles, you resent Takuya and his will to resign. That is why you continued to search for a role model. Then Junpei came into the spotlight, and he saved the digital world, but what did he do afterward? Certainly, you remember the conversation that you had with him and Izumi beside the pool. You told them that they could not stay in the digital world. They would have to go back to school, and get jobs, and become functional members of society. Did they listen? No, they became more like Takuya, except they refuse to die for their sloth and lust. You, Tomoki, will have the opportunity to right this wrong. The war with the D-Reaper will inevitably enter the digital world. While you are there, you can take Junpei and Izumi back down to where they belong."

Tomoki was overwhelmed. Everything that was said of him was reluctantly true.

"Tomoki, this is the duty of the holder of the spirit of darkness. You are the true holder of the spirit of darkness, as well as the spirit of ice. You have been the rightful owner of the spirit of darkness ever since you picked up Kouichi's D-Tector—ever since Junpei tackled Kouichi, and the D-Tector landed in front of you."

After much self-deliberation, Tomoki found a place to take his stand. "I won't betray my friends."

Wisemon would have felt thwarted if not for one saving grace:

"You cannot escape your destiny." The snow cone melted off of Tomoki's screen.

Tomoki looked to SlimeBakemon for validation. "I won't do it."

"Doowannadoo," SlimeBakemon encouraged.

"That's right. I'm not going to hurt my friends just because some talking snow cone tells me that it's my destiny." Still, Tomoki had his doubts. He would only dare to speak them internally. "Have I resented Takuya all these years? Did I deny my hatred by calling myself Tomoki Kanbara? Do I wear his shirt and goggles just to repress the feeling that he should've come back to Earth with me? Do I resent Junpei and Izumi for not coming back to Earth with me? Do I deny my hatred for them by calling them my friends? With all the heroic deeds that were done, why can't I find my hero?" Tomoki had the undeniable urge to consult someone for advice on the matter. Unfortunately, his top two choices, Daisuke and Junpei, were both spirit holders. If, by some fluke of circumstances, Tomoki did decide to obey his secret orders, he didn't want to disobey the confidentiality clause. Tomoki dialed his third choice on his D-Tector—his khaki ice spirit D-Tector.

Jyou Kido was getting valuable experience at the hospital. He was in the supply closet checking to see how many boxes of latex gloves, gauze, and bandage tape the hospital would need in order to be adequately prepared for the next flu season. He held a clipboard, and he logged the inventories. "Five more boxes of gauze should last us another six months, but if we order ten, we'll get a bulk discount and a free case of isopropyl alcohol. Boy, I should've majored in business. Why did I go into medicine?" Jyou heard his Digivice ringing. Fortunately, he was alone in the supply closet, so he was free to answer the call without arousing suspicion. As a volunteer, he wouldn't chastise himself too much for taking a brief unscheduled break. "This is Jyou."

"Jyou, it's Tomoki. I need some advice, and I didn't know who else to ask. You've been helpful in the past, so I'm turning to you again."

"When you put it that way, since I've got a reputation to maintain, I'll see what I can do."

Tomoki tried to find the best way to explain his situation. "There's this powerful all-knowing digimon, and he wants me to do something that I would probably feel really guilty about doing."

"What does he want you to do?"

"You know Junpei and Izumi?"

"I don't know them personally, but by your descriptions over the years, I feel like I have a general idea of who they are." Jyou repeated the information that he was given by Tomoki. "They live in a castle in the clouds. They have a child whom they named after you. They are considered royalty in the digital world, and they have some accompanying authority. They have the spirits of thunder and wind. They have lots and lots of sexual intercourse."

"Uh, I suppose that's them in a nutshell. I need to know what I'm going to do about them. According to Wisemon, when the war with the D-Reaper enters the digital world, I have to bring Junpei and Izumi back with me to Earth—by force. He said that it's my destiny, and all his prophecies have been right so far."

"Just because some power-tripping jerk says something is your destiny, that doesn't mean you have to fulfill his prophecy. My parents told me that it was my destiny to be a doctor, but I didn't let…that's a bad example. Nonetheless, if Junpei and Izumi are your friends, then it's your duty as their friend to help them, not hurt them. So, would bringing them back to Earth help them, or would it hurt them?"

Tomoki considered the consequences. "It would make their lives miserable."

Jyou dropped the philosophical bombshell:

"That doesn't answer the question. Take it from a doctor; helping and hurting aren't measured by individual happiness. The cancer patient is happier without chemotherapy. The diabetic is happier without the daily finger pricks. The cure is almost always painful, sometimes more painful than the disease, but we take it because we must survive. As living beings, we must face life; there's no way around it, and running away is certain extinction. By "helping," you bring someone closer to life, and by "hurting," you pull someone away. You must take this into account whenever you make decisions that affect others…which is just about every decision you make in your daily life."

In conversing with Jyou, Tomoki had hoped that his assigned task would be deemed absurd and dismissible, but instead, more ponderings were heaped upon Tomoki's contemplative plate. He tried to be polite about it. "Thank you, Jyou; your advice has been invaluable."

"They don't call me 'Old Reliable' for nothing. In fact, they say you can count on death, taxes, and good old Jyou." It wasn't fact; Jyou just liked to fancy that the people he met thought about him. "Is there anything else I can do for you today?"

"No, you've done plenty. I'll talk to you again some day." Tomoki ended the call.

Suddenly, Jyou remembered the reason he went into medicine. "I wanted to help people." Jyou resumed his logging of inventory. He noticed a scarcity of a frequently used item. Since the item wasn't on his list, he made an extra line for it on his inventory sheet. "Yep, we're definitely going to need more needles."

**Author's Notes:**

Musical Inspirations:

Henry's "Load" theme: "Bleeding Me" by Metallica

Kenta's main theme: "Don't Sell Me Short" by Bad Religion

Daisuke's main theme: "Alive and Well" by Rise Against

Miyako's main theme: "Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated" by Rise Against

Tomoki's main theme: "Nothing to Write Home About" by Soul Asylum

Cody's main theme: "Promises Broken" by Soul Asylum

Mr. Wong's talk with Henry: "Code of Silence" by Billy Joel

Jyou's talk with Tomoki: "Back to Earth" by American Lesion

SlimeBakemon's main theme: "Headful of Ghosts" by Bush

Daemon's main theme: "The Lost Souls" by A.F.I.

Suzie's main theme: "Ride the Cliché" by Stone Temple Pilots

Wisemon's main theme: "Master of Puppets" by Metallica

Literature Inspirations:

In the X-Men comics, "Bamf!" is the sound effect Nightcrawler makes when he teleports.

Television Inspirations:

Yes, the Real Legendary Warriors are a blatant rip-off of the Real Ghostbusters. Character for character, Miyako is Egon Spengler, Daisuke is Peter Venkman (or possibly Eduardo Rivera from Extreme Ghostbusters), Tomoki is Ray Stantz, Cody is Winston Zeddemore, Kenta is Kenny Fenderman (shown below),

and as for Henry, well, the Real Ghostbusters never really had a clearly defined leader. "Maybe you came from another series, or maybe you just ain't the type who gets reincarnated."

"Are you pondering what I'm pondering?" The Brain was a Maurice LaMarche character (based on Orson Welles), just like Egon Spengler, which is why I had Miyako quote him.

When I had Henry say, "Sensei sometimes let me wear his brown belt or his black belt as encouragement. I never got there, but it did inspire me to keep trying for that goal whenever I wanted to give up," I was referring to a scene (or several) from the series where Henry is shown training in either a black or a brown belt (it appears to be very dark brown, perhaps intended as black). I confess; I was covering my ass for making Henry a green belt.

All hail the Digipedia:

http://digipedia. Tick is the most quotable hero of all time:

"half-breed" comment, along with several other facets of Henry's anti-passive personality (which I contextually disproved as out of character via Henry's conversation with his father in this chapter), are references to that anime that knows no end, InuYasha.

I caught my sister watching the spoiled rich girl sixteenth birthday party show (or whatever it's called) on MTV. It seemed like a nice target.

Personal Inspirations:

I take partial credit for raising my younger sister.

As a mechanical engineering student, I've had to prepare and deliver plenty of PowerPoint presentations, and I've had to sit through exponentially more presentations from others. I prefer custom backdrops, but everybody else goes with the templates, and that's just one of my many PowerPoint gripes.

In my current job as a project engineer for an aerospace manufacturing company, I know all about the costs, lead times, and overseas production of short run castings.

I can peel and de-yoke hardboiled eggs with little to no wasted movements, but because they entail cooking time and fragrant waste, I usually go with half a can of chunk light tuna as my daily protein source (mixed in with the salad I bring with me to work).

I've seen every episode of the first two seasons of Digimon at least three times. I think I've seen some of them ten times.

©2006 by Benjamin Wiseman

Please send me your comments and 


	8. A Complicated Song

All Seasons: Wisemon's Actual Ending Series

Part 8: Callin' In Sick / When I Was Your Age / Hardware Store / Another One Rides the Bus / You're Pitiful / Nature Trail to Hell / A Complicated Song

By Wisemon

Digimon is the property of Toei Animation. This series is intended mostly as a release for a burning plot idea, and for an ending that I find far more relatable than that of my Alternate Ending Series. So, the dialogue will be a bit less frequent in this one. To save time, toward the end of this chapter, I switch to half-assed present tense summarizing. I'm not proud of it, and I apologize in advance. I swear I'll make it up to you in the last chapter.

I couldn't decide on one title, so I went with a bunch of sequential ones. I won't tell you what happened last time. The previous chapter was essential, and if you didn't read it, you probably wouldn't be reading this sentence. This story has a disclaimer for all sorts of shit. Proceed at your own risk.

May 6th, 2010, 6:45 P.M., Henry showed his father the letter that was stuck under the anthropomorphized sun magnet. As should be natural for any parent, Mr. Wong's first reactions were shock, disbelief, panic, and attempts to place blame. At the latter phase, since Cody was sitting on the couch with Suzie during the abduction, he became the most obvious target.

"You were right there! How could you sleep while my daughter was being kidnapped?!" Mr. Wong stood face-to-face with Cody, uncomfortably close. He gripped the young man tightly by each of his shoulders, and he stared down into dull emerald eyes.

Cody almost said, "I was tired," but instead, he wisely said nothing.

"Dad, lay off him; this isn't his fault." Henry hoped to move his father into the next phase. "We know that Suzie isn't here. We know that Yamaki took her. Now we need to get her back."

Cody misinterpreted Henry's intentions. "I agree; we need to call the proper authorities."

Mr. Wong shook Cody vigorously. "The 'proper authorities' are subordinate to Hypnos!" Mr. Wong saw no gleams of comprehension. "Do you know what that means?"

Henry answered his father's question. "It means that the local police can't do a goddamn thing, and we have to take matters into our own hands."

"You're talking about vigilante justice," Cody realized. "That's illegal."

Kenta had been quiet through most of Mr. Wong's ranting (though not as quiet as Cody), but he interjected every so often. "It ain't your dimension, so just assume that we play by a different set of rules. We're gonna go to Hypnos, and we're gonna take back Suzie."

It was exactly as Henry had proclaimed, but it just didn't sound right. "Kenta, that tough guy slang is starting to get really annoying. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but this ain't the time and place for—damn it all, now you got me doing it!"

"Sorry about that…I was raised by animation heroes and their voice actors. That's just the way some of them talk. I don't remember exactly which ones, but they must've been influential. Give it some time, and you might be the _most_ influential."

Henry was flattered, but flattery wouldn't retrieve his sister. He returned to the matter at hand. "Dad, if you tell us where to find Hypnos, we can bust in and get Suzie."

If the situation had been different, Mr. Wong would've laughed. "Henry, that's a secure government complex guarded by armed security officers. You can't just 'bust' into it."

Much like the prelude to his battle with Zhuqiaomon, Henry did not tremble. Unlike that occasion, if only to assuage his father's concerns, he claimed team confidence before self-confidence. "We've got bulletproof suits, offensive capabilities, and the will to succeed. The Real Legendary Warriors can pull off this rescue mission."

Mr. Wong was not convinced. "Just the three of you?"

"No, there's six of us (maybe seven) and two Digimon. We can all meet tomorrow, and you can tell us everything we need to know about where to find Hypnos, how to get some programs from Hypnos, and anything else you would consider to be vital information."

"You don't remember where to find Hypnos? It's the giant twin-towered imposingly utilitarian building next to the Krispy Kreme. I worked there for a few months when the D-Reaper attacked the first time." Mr. Wong reminded himself of his current employer, an employer that considered him to be replaceable. "Henry, I want to help in any way I can, but tomorrow is a Friday." Mr. Wong almost said, "I have to go to work," but instead, he wisely said, "I'll call in sick."

Around 8:00 P.M., Tomoki got a call on his D-Tector. With Miyako, Daisuke, and SlimeBakemon in range of the conversation (with Daemon passed out in the hallway), Tomoki hoped that the call would not be another confidential one. He answered his D-Tector warily.

"Tomoki, it's Henry. I know we don't speak over the phone or by D-Tector all that often (or at all), but as long as we're teammates, I think we should stay in contact and update each other." Not wanting his original priorities to be disregarded, Henry started with the less urgent matter. "I sent Daemon over with prints for those castings. Have you started on them?"

"As I understand it, Daemon forgot the concrete supplies. I checked with SlimeBakemon; he says that he could probably become the mold, and we could pour the hot aluminum directly into him to form the castings."

Henry liked the plan, but he saw a danger in it. "Ingestion of aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer's. I'm not sure if it's safe for your Digimon to be a mold for hot aluminum."

"He's not _my_ digimon. He's his own digimon, and he already has brain damage. If he wants to be the mold, I'm not standing in his way." Tomoki had nothing more to say on the casting issue, but he sensed that something was left unsaid. "Is there anything else?"

Knowing that Tomoki and Suzie were friends, Henry had considered sugarcoating the news, but Henry saw no nutritional value in sugar coatings. "Suzie's been kidnapped."

Tomoki was silent for a few seconds. He considered the possibility that Henry was joking, but with what he knew of Henry, sarcasm would be the only thing remotely close to insincerity. "Whoa, kidnapping teenage girls is not cool. Who would do something like that?" Tomoki thought rationally, avoiding all the wayward phases that Mr. Wong went through. Unlike Cody, the thought of consulting the "proper authorities" never occurred to Tomoki. All he knew of rescue missions he learned in the proactive digital world. "We'll just have to take her back."

"No kidding, but it's going to be easier said than done. We're going to have a team meeting tomorrow, same scheduled time and place."

Tomoki was somewhat confused. "Why does Suzie being kidnapped concern the whole team? You're her older brother, and I'm her…friend. Why should anybody else care?"

Henry understood Tomoki's lack of faith in his fellow man; he was surprised by Tomoki's maturity. "She was kidnapped by Hypnos. We have to go to Hypnos anyway to get the Yuggoth and Juggernaut programs."

"Hmm, I suppose this does concern everyone. In that case, we'll all meet at your apartment tomorrow—except maybe for Daemon. We'll see how he's feeling in the morning." Tomoki ended the call.

Miyako was somewhat peeved. "Why did he call Tomoki? I'm supposed to be the second in command."

"He's known me longer," Tomoki answered. "He only knows me through Suzie, but that still counts for something."

Daisuke had a better answer. "You know, talking to girls doesn't come so easy for every guy. Some of us are just blessed."

Miyako was curious about Daisuke's assertion. "Really, what sort of salacious language do you use with men that you wouldn't use in the company of women?"

Daisuke tried to recall an instance of self-censorship. He was unsuccessful. "None, but I never said that _I_ was blessed."

On May 7th, 2010, at 12:30 P.M., the Real Legendary Warriors were gathered in the Wongs' living room. Mr. Wong recalled that the hidden camera he had set up to spy on Suzie and Tomoki had been running, and he wanted to see exactly how his daughter had been kidnapped. Mr. Wong stood beside the television in order to operate the VCR (he had lost the remote control). Kenta, Henry, Miyako, and Daisuke sat on the futon in the same order as the previous day's luncheon. Tomoki stood next to Daisuke, while Cody flanked Kenta in a similar manner. SlimeBakemon hovered at Tomoki's side. Daemon had yet to arrive.

They all observed the recording with varied degrees of interest. They saw an unkempt man in his late teens to early twenties entering the picture. He snuck up behind Suzie, which wasn't hard, considering that her attention was securely fastened to the television screen. He took out a taser, zapped Suzie in the back of the neck, picked her up, and walked out of the picture with her. Mr. Wong allowed the video to roll for another minute, desperately hoping for another clue, and then he stopped it. "How did he get into our apartment? Our door locks automatically."

"If he works for Hypnos, I'm sure he has his methods," Henry hypothesized. "I just wish I knew who that guy was. When we go to Hypnos, if I see him, I'll–"

"–Don't say it, Henry," Mr. Wong warned. "Violence is never the answer. Inaction is action. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

Though he heard Mr. Wong's warning loud and clear, Tomoki recognized the kidnapper, and he felt the need to share his insight. "His name is Yutaka Himi—my older brother. He disappeared about six years ago when the police wanted to question him about _my_ disappearance. For some reason, it doesn't look like he's aged all that much."

Once again, Tomoki had fallen out of favor with Mr. Wong. "You're related to that hired goon?"

"Not by choice," Tomoki answered. "It's been at least seven years since we've spoken. We used to be the best of friends, but then he changed, and he started to hate me, and eventually, the feeling was mutual. That's part of why I changed my name. I didn't want him to find me, not that I expected him to look."

Daisuke misconstrued Tomoki's bitter words as angry sentiment. "Dude, weren't you telling me just last week that _I_ needed to chill. I've got an older sister, and I'm not too keen on her either, but–"

"–Did your sister kidnap my daughter," Mr. Wong asked Daisuke rhetorically. "Then I don't need to hear about your sister."

Daisuke clenched his fist, except for his middle finger, which he proudly brandished for Mr. Wong.

Henry stood up. "I just remembered something. If I'm right, getting back Suzie could be harder than I originally thought." Henry walked toward his room, completely unconcerned with Daisuke's effrontery toward his father.

Mr. Wong glared at Daisuke. "When I was your age, I showed a bit more respect to my elders."

Daisuke felt no intimidation. "When you were my age, smoking was cool, most women became housewives, and the Sex Pistols were pioneers for badmouthing a token monarch. The world changes; you either adapt to it, or you get in the checkout line with the rest of the geezers who can't figure out which way the magnetic strip is supposed to face."

Mr. Wong was silent for several seconds. "…I find you to be particularly annoying."

Daisuke smirked. "You know, I get that a lot."

Henry walked back into the living room. "There's something I want you all to have a look at. I need everybody to pile into my room and gather round my computer; you know the drill." Henry watched as Tomoki, SlimeBakemon, Cody, and his father approached, while Kenta, Miyako, and Daisuke rose from the futon. Something caught his attention. "You're all wearing the same clothes you wore yesterday!"

Daisuke excused his fellow DigiDestined. "We only brought one change of clothes. The ones we were wearing yesterday didn't get all that dirty, so we wore them again."

"The longer I hold off on doing the laundry, the less I spend on laundry," Tomoki stated matter-of-factly.

Mr. Wong had the "best" excuse. "Henry, I always wear the same clothes. That's part of working at a company with a strict dress code. Though I've called out for today, you shouldn't expect me to dress any differently."

Miyako looked Henry up and down. "Any condemnation in your accusation would be hypocritical."

Henry realized that by all appearances, he was also wearing the same outfit as the day before. "I have more than one black t-shirt, my vest only needs to be washed about once every two weeks, and it's a real hassle to transfer everything in my pockets to a fresh pair of pants."

"Hey, _I'm_ wearing a completely different outfit today." Kenta was wearing dark green cargo pants with a cobalt t-shirt. On the previous day, he had worn stone white cargo pants with an orange t-shirt.

"That's great, Kenta, but I've moved past that." Henry barely glanced at Kenta. "What happened to that belt I gave you?"

"You wanted me to wear that orange belt every day? It's gonna fade to pink if I have to wash it too many times."

Henry couldn't stand the notion of fading intensity. "No, you made the right decision. I kept the belt in a plastic storage container, and I suggest that you do the same. I hate pink."

Henry's last three words caught Miyako's attention. She recognized the declaration of hatred as her own.

Henry, Kenta, Miyako, Daisuke, Tomoki, Cody, SlimeBakemon, and Mr. Wong crowded into Henry's room. Henry sat down at his computer and clicked on the minimized task that he wanted to display. His screen showed a map with gridlines. Dozens of squares on the map were filled in entirely with black pixels. Perhaps the map was self-explanatory, but Henry felt the need to explain it anyway. "This is a map of the city. It includes every district in Tokyo and a few from each of the surrounding cities. The view I have it on now is zoomed a few times."

The map was all too familiar to Miyako. "The black squares represent areas under the control of the Digimon Emperor…I mean the D-Reaper."

Henry scrolled down to find the area he wanted to double-check. "You sound so unimpressed…not that I made the map personally; it's a .gov site. Among other uses, the map is a valuable resource to tourists who want to avoid areas of the city littered with corpses."

"Well, we're tourists, but somehow, I get the feeling we're heading _toward_ the corpses." Daisuke repeated his prediction inaudibly, and then he gulped.

"Dad, this is it. This is where you said the Hypnos building is located." Henry moved his cursor into the corresponding square on the map—a black square."

Daisuke noted the position of Henry's cursor. "I hate it when I'm right."

Henry would not be deterred by the color of the square; he would work around it. "This means that we can't take the subway or the bus. All routes into areas controlled by the D-Reaper have been closed off. We might be able to trick a taxi driver into taking us (maybe a Pakistani), but we won't all fit in one taxi. We could rent a van, but we'd still need a driver…Dad?"

Mr. Wong had no interest in visiting a black square. "Henry, I take the subway to work every morning. I know how to drive a car, but I only do it when I'm out with my coworkers and they need a designated driver. Since I'm rarely out with my coworkers, because I want to come straight home to my family, I'm a very poor driver. How come you never got your license?"

Henry had his reasons. "I was too busy with school. I've only been of legal driving age for about a year. Until the D-Reaper showed up, we had a reliable system of public transportation. You never signed me up for drivers' education."

"I know how to drive," Cody said.

"Don't blame me just because you can't drive a car," Mr. Wong told Henry. "A resourceful young man like you can always find a way to learn a new skill."

"I know how to drive," Cody repeated.

"I agree with Mr. Wong," Miyako inputted smugly. "I've had to go through all manner of channels for academic enrichment, but the ends have usually justified the means."

"Uh, I think we all should listen to Cody," Tomoki suggested. "Cody, for the benefit of those who weren't paying attention, could you repeat yourself one more time?"

"I know how to drive," Cody repeated.

Mr. Wong was incredulous. "You're not old enough to drive! Where did you learn how to drive? What kind of irresponsible adults would teach a boy your age how to drive?"

"The police academy," Cody answered. "I'm a junior police officer. I drive the squad car and practice at the firing range."

Mr. Wong's incredulity turned to outrage. "They let you use a gun! They trust you with a gun, and you're not even responsible enough to keep my daughter from getting kidnapped when she was sitting right next to you! You're a poor excuse for a police officer."

Cody was offended, and he felt a definite dislike toward Mr. Wong building. At the same time, Cody recalled his father saying that a real police officer was never truly off duty. By that logic, Mr. Wong was justified in his insult, and Cody was to blame for Suzie's abduction. Cody left this possibility open in his mind. It was easy to blame others for mistakes, but if the mistakes were his, Cody would accept culpability, as he strived to be a flawless police officer. He gave Mr. Wong no retorts and no excuses.

"Dad, lay off him," Henry told his father for the second time. "We needed a driver, and we've got our driver. Now we need a vehicle. A van will get us to Hypnos, but if the place is secure enough to keep out the D-Reaper in a black square, there's no way they're going to let an ordinary van through the gates. We're going to need a vehicle that they won't be able to refuse."

Fittingly, Tomoki had the Trojan horse idea. "What about an ice cream truck? Everybody loves ice cream."

"Eureka! An ice cream truck would make for a superb ambush." Miyako paused in her praise of the idea; she saw a hindrance. "How do we acquire an ice cream truck?"

Tomoki hoped to offer Cody a chance at further redemption. "As a junior police officer, Cody can commandeer an ice cream truck for us, and that way, we won't have to pay any rental fees."

Cody disapproved of the idea. "I'm only supposed to commandeer vehicles in emergency situations."

Mr. Wong disapproved of Cody's assessment of the situation. "You don't consider my daughter being kidnapped as an emergency? If it takes an ice cream truck to get into Hypnos, then you will use whatever means you have available to get an ice cream truck. Am I making myself clear?"

"Now that you mention it, I'm a little fuzzy on this whole ice cream truck thing." Daisuke had a much simpler plan. "Why can't Daemon just teleport us into Hypnos?"

"Daemon is currently passed out in the hallway of Tomoki's apartment," Miyako reminded Daisuke. "Do you really want to trust him to teleport us to the precise coordinates on a map?"

Daisuke considered what he knew about the relationship between alcoholism and transportation. "About as much as I trust my old man behind the wheel." Daisuke looked to Cody. "Come on, Cody, be a sport and commandeer us an ice cream truck."

"I'll do it, but I don't have to like it," Cody acquiesced.

Henry ignored Cody's preferences and moved on. "Okay, we'll have our transportation to Hypnos. We ought to stop by the hardware store first to pick up the internal components for the deletion weapons, and maybe some spirit weapons to use in the meantime, since we probably don't have time to build those guns right now."

"You're darn right you don't," Mr. Wong told Henry. "Rescuing Suzie is your top priority."

"Do I have to go to the hardware store? I've already got my spirit weapon. It's a totally awesome spirit weapon. It's already gotten me out of a jam." Daisuke recalled the location of his Mizuno MZB271 bamboo baseball bat. "I left it at Tomoki's apartment; I'll have to go back for it."

"SlimeBakemon and I will come with you," Tomoki offered. "We can wake up Daemon, and then the digimon can make those castings while the rest of us go to Hypnos. There's no point in me going to the hardware store since I can't buy any ice or darkness weapons."

"Does anybody else see no point in going with me to the hardware store?" Henry asked with irritation.

Miyako felt it was safest to keep her distance from Henry. "I have the spirit of water, so if you could buy me a power washer, or even a higher end squirt gun, that would suffice."

"A flashlight," Cody requested.

"Fine, I'll get you your spirit weapons, but then you have to commandeer the ice cream truck without me." Henry realized that he was forgetting about someone. "Kenta, are you coming with me to the hardware store, or are you going with the rest of the team back to Tomoki's apartment?"

Through his scratched glasses, Kenta saw whom he would follow to hell and back. "You ain't getting rid of me that easily. Henry, I'm with you like twenty-four hour deodorant—the real twenty-four hour deodorant, not the deodorant that just says it's gonna last twenty-four hours."

"That's great…you can help me find the components we'll need. As for the rest of you, call me when you get the ice cream truck. We'll meet up and head out."

There wasn't much more to the meeting. For the time that it took, Mr. Wong regretted his absence from work, but he decided that it was best not to voice this gripe.

Henry reserved the tools and electrical sealing supplies to his own shopping expertise, and he gave Kenta a grocery list of various screws and wire. He had to help Kenta a few times (lower gauges meant thicker wires and other little tidbits). By 2:30 P.M., Henry and Kenta had bought what they thought they needed from the hardware store.

Just outside the doors of the hardware store, Henry remembered that he forgot something. "We didn't get spirit weapons for Miyako and that police officer kid. That was half the point in coming here. We'll have to go back in for them."

"Hey, I got it covered," Kenta assured. "I picked out weapons for the spirits of water and light. I even got a little something extra for the spirit of steel—a reel of steel-jacketed wire rope. 500 meters should hold you for a while, right?"

Henry had no interest in Kenta's rope. "Thanks, Kenta, but maybe you should take the rope. I've already got a steel-coated containment rod."

"Steel ain't my spirit. What am I 'sposedta do with 500 meters of steel-jacketed wire rope?"

"A good engineer always comes up with something." Henry came up with a hint. "You might want to start by carrying something to cut it with."

As Daisuke retrieved his bat from his suitcase, SlimeBakemon and Daemon were assigned to their aluminum casting tasks. They voiced their preferences for joining the rescue party, but to no avail. Reluctantly, they accepted their lesser roles. By 3:00 P.M., they had begun to melt and mold aluminum on the rooftop of Tomoki's apartment. Meanwhile, the roommates had ventured to an area that Tomoki designated as a favorite sales site for himself and his competition. The location was not far from the bleachers of a public soccer field in Shinjuku Park. Little league games were held there weekly, and practice sessions were held every other day (the practice sessions would've been held on the district school's field, the one that had once been vandalized by Calumon and Guilmon, but unfortunately, the D-Reaper owned this field and the adjacent educational buildings). Even if the kids who played soccer were on strict diets and couldn't eat ice cream, nothing prevented the soccer moms, brothers, sisters, grandparents, and unemployed fathers from enjoying the confections. A road beside the bleachers allowed for the usual post-game exodus, and it allowed for an ice cream truck to park and sell in the afternoon. Beneath the bleachers, heavy shadow allowed Miyako, Daisuke, and Tomoki to look on undetected as Cody stood at the end of the line that had formed in front of the parked white truck. When all of the paying customers had gotten their prepackaged, gelatin-fortified, vaguely resembling a cartoon character-shaped treats, Cody made his move.

"Good afternoon, my name is Junior Officer Cody Hida." Cody's tone was perfectly firm and steady. He took out his wallet and flashed his junior officer's badge to the ice cream salesman. "Would you mind stepping out of the truck?"

The ice cream salesman complied with Cody's request. He opened the rear door of his truck and hopped down to street level as if he didn't have an option. Then he got a good look at Cody, and he realized that his compliance was not necessary. "Officer? You're too young to be a police officer."

"I'm a junior police officer," Cody assured.

"There's no such thing as a junior police officer," the ice cream salesman retorted. "This is some sort of prank, isn't it?"

"I'm a junior police officer," Cody insisted, "and this is not a prank. I need to commandeer your vehicle. It's an emergency situation."

"Bullshit! You just want to go joyriding while eating up everything in my freezer."

From under the bleachers, Miyako, Daisuke, and Tomoki eavesdropped on the conversation with avid disappointment. "Hmm, I don't think this plan is going to work," Tomoki inputted. "I forgot that junior police officers only exist in your televised dimension."

"Swell, how are we supposed to get our ice cream truck now?" Daisuke turned to Miyako. "Tell me you've got another plan."

Miyako had a plan. "Naturally, we move to Plan B."

"Well, what's Plan B?" Daisuke asked urgently.

Miyako and Tomoki turned to Daisuke. They stared at him expectantly. More specifically, they stared at the baseball bat he carried.

Daisuke got the hint. He looked down at his baseball bat with justifiable anxiety. "Plan B…you say?"

At 3:20 P.M., Miyako and Daisuke stood in the back of a moving ice cream truck, Tomoki sat in the passenger's seat, and Cody reluctantly had the wheel. As was the plan, they were driving toward the Wongs' apartment to pick up Henry and Kenta.

"Are we going to have to park this thing?" Daisuke inquired. "It could be a real hassle to find a spot in a garage, unless we get lucky and find a spot on the street, but then Cody will have to parallel park this big clunker. Well, Cody, are you up for it?"

Cody kept his eyes on the road, and he kept his mouth shut.

"You're still not talking to me?" Daisuke knew the reason. "You're still mad about how I whacked that guy in the forehead with my baseball bat? You know, he probably won't feel a thing until tomorrow."

Cody kept his eyes on the road. "Tomoki, will you please tell Daisuke that I'm mad because he committed a felony, and because he made me an accomplice?"

Tomoki accepted the request. "Daisuke, Cody says–"

"–Yeah, I heard him. I forgot that Cody takes a while to forgive people." Daisuke moved on to the more pressing issue. "Miyako, when do we reach our next stop?"

"Thus far, traffic has been smooth." Miyako checked her D-Tector for the time. "I estimate that we'll reach Henry's apartment in approximately two minutes."

"Then he and Kenta will meet us out front and hop in our party wagon?"

"Correct, those were the arrangements." Miyako shivered. "All of these freezers make the atmosphere rather chilly back here."

Daisuke noted the headlights shining through Miyako's sky blue dress shirt. He smirked. "I can tell. You probably should've worn a bra today."

Miyako quickly folded her arms over her chest in embarrassment. "Not that it's any of your business, but I _am_ wearing a bra."

Cody spotted Henry and Kenta standing on the sidewalk in front of the Wongs' apartment. He pulled slightly to the side (entering a fire lane) and stopped the truck. Quite intentionally, it was a very sudden stop. Daisuke and Miyako fell over. Cody heard the thud, and he smiled.

Henry and Kenta dashed to the ice cream truck and opened the rear door. Henry hopped into the truck first. He saw Miyako lying on top of Daisuke. "…Are we interrupting something?"

Miyako rapidly stood up and turned to face Henry. "The situation you just observed was not what it appeared to be."

Kenta followed Henry into the truck and shut the door.

Daisuke stood up. "It's never what it appears to be. We used to land like that all the time back in the computer room. Those were the days…" Daisuke shook off his nostalgia. "Well, if everybody's here, let's get this bus rolling."

"Don't tell Kenta we're on a bus ride," Henry advised. "He'll grab a microphone and serenade us for the whole trip."

"Hey, I think I'm a pretty good singer," Kenta asserted. "My voice cracks, and I'm tone-deaf, but at least I can sing with passion. That's important, dontya think?"

There was no comment. Cody rejoined the flow of traffic, and the Real Legendary Warriors were on their way to Hypnos.

In the back of the ice cream truck, Henry, Kenta, Miyako, and Daisuke sat atop stainless steel freezers. Their butts were cold, but as Miyako and Daisuke had demonstrated, sitting in a moving vehicle was much more stable than standing. Since the freezers were only on one side of the truck, they took the same positions that they had while sitting on the Wongs' futon. This time, there were no complaints about being cramped together. They needed each others' body heat. Actually, Kenta would've complained, but since Daisuke and Henry were so tightly packed around Miyako, Kenta was able to keep a few millimeters of separation between himself and Henry.

At 3:40 P.M., a troubling thought occurred to Daisuke. "Cody, how do you know where you're going? This isn't even your dimension."

Cody was silent.

"After we settled on the ice cream truck idea, I printed him out a map," Henry answered.

Miyako kept her arms folded. "Did you acquire spirit weapons for the warriors of water and light?"

Henry eyed his own spirit weapon with apprehension. His containment rod lay on the floor of the truck beside Daisuke's baseball bat. "Kenta brought them in one of the shopping bags."

Kenta held up his shopping bag. "I left the bags with the gun parts back in Henry's apartment, but we don't need them right now." Kenta rummaged through the bag and pulled out a flashlight. "I got a flashlight for Cody." Kenta put the flashlight back and pulled out his next item. "I got a powerful spray nozzle for Miyako."

In a flash, Miyako leaned across Henry and grabbed Kenta by the hair. "You imbecile! How do you propose I use a non-portable water distribution item?"

"You find a hose and attach it," Kenta answered. "Couldya let go of my hair?"

Daisuke noticed that in Miyako's lunge for Kenta's hair, her body was unapologetically covering Henry's. Daisuke shot Henry a "Don't even think about it," glare, but more than likely, his perceived rival wasn't paying attention. Then Daisuke followed Henry's gaze to the spirit weapons that lay on the floor of the truck. With dejection, he realized that Henry's containment rod was longer than his baseball bat.

"Even for a sidekick, you're absolutely pitiful." Miyako released Kenta's hair and returned to her snug position between Henry and Daisuke. "Keep your useless nozzle. Someone has to locate and download the necessary computer programs. I'm content as the brains of this operation."

Kenta accepted Miyako's rejection. "I guess you've never been in a back alley water war; nozzles come in handy. If you ain't gonna use it, I'll use it."

Traffic increased somewhat after 4:00 P.M. The Real Legendary Warriors were fortunate enough to reach their destination before the peak of rush-hour traffic. By 4:30 P.M., they were in the black square, and they were one building away.

The building adjacent to Hypnos was particularly appealing to Cody. "Can we stop at the Krispy Kreme?"

"Dude, what is it with you cops and doughnuts?"

Cody forgot that he wasn't talking to Daisuke. "I just like their coffee."

"Blehh, that's disgusting," Miyako commented.

"I need to get my caffeine from somewhere. I used to drink tea with my grandfather, but without him…" Cody drifted off from his attempt at conversation. If his audience were listening, perhaps they would've asked him to continue. The vehicle he was maneuvering arrived at the gates of an imposing twin-towered structure. A mechanical yellow bar stood firmly in his way. The guard who controlled the bar sat despondently in his miniscule office.

"Cody, let me do the talking," Tomoki advised. "I have years of experience in this business." Tomoki stepped out of the ice cream truck and ducked under the yellow bar. He confronted the guard with his ploy prepared. "Good afternoon, sir, would you or any of your associates be interested in purchasing some ice cream?"

The guard looked at Tomoki somewhat indecisively, as if he were the menu of various confections displayed on the side of the truck. A pair of goggles did nothing to detract from Tomoki's conspicuousness. "Sorry kid, but this is a secure government facility. I can't let in any unauthorized personnel, especially not with the D-Reaper running amuck outside."

Tomoki put on a slight frown. "That's too bad. Since your business would have been a new customer, we were going to offer the first ten patrons a free treat of their choice. We would park just inside the gates, so you would probably be the first one in line."

The guard was suddenly leaning toward a new definition of "authorized personnel." "Does that include Nutty Royales?"

Tomoki's frown dissipated. "Anything you want."

The guard lifted the bar. "Alright, you're in, but you'd better not be the D-Reaper in disguise. I don't want to lose my job."

Tomoki watched with satisfaction as his Trojan horse rolled through the gates. He turned back to the guard. "Chill, we're not the D-Reaper. We're just your average ice cream salespeople. I just need to hop back on the truck to check on our stock, and then anybody in the mood for ice cream can get in line for a serving."

"When you're ready, I'm first in line," the guard insisted.

Tomoki dashed back to the truck and returned to his passenger's seat. He turned anxiously to the four chilly college students. "Somebody has to stay behind to sell the ice cream."

Daisuke briefly recollected Kimeramon's first attack. Hopeless as it was, he didn't like having to push a tree just to get in on the action. He stood up and picked up his baseball bat. "Dude, you're the expert ice cream salesman. Why can't _you_ stay behind? It's probably a lot safer."

"I have two personal stakes in this," Tomoki answered. "Yutaka is my brother, and Suzie is my…friend. I'm going in there."

Miyako stood up. "I have to retrieve the Yuggoth and Juggernaut programs. Someone else will have to peddle this flavored sucrose. I suggest that Kenta fills this role."

Kenta stood up and grabbed his shopping bag. "This is gonna be a rescue mission, right? It's gonna be dangerous and exciting—an opportunity for a hero. I ain't missing out on this."

Henry stood up and picked up his containment rod. "I'm taking my sister back."

There seemed to be no resolution. Then Cody volunteered. "I'll stay behind. You're going to break laws. I don't want to be a part of that."

"We'll break what we have to," Henry told Cody. "You go to the window at the side and start selling some prepackaged tooth decay. I'll call you to get the truck ready when it's time to go. This shouldn't take too long." Henry opened the rear door and jumped to the pavement.

Kenta jumped out after Henry. Miyako and Daisuke attempted the door simultaneously; neither went through. Daisuke allowed Miyako to pass and followed her down. Tomoki was considering giving Cody some sales advice, but he decided against it. He followed the rest of the Real Legendary Warriors out the backdoor of the truck. Knowing his duty, Cody went to the side window of the truck in preparation for his customers.

As he said he would be, the guard was the first (and temporarily, the only) customer in Cody's line. He spotted five teenagers pouring out of the rear of the truck, and he noticed that the salesman at the window was missing the goggles that the other young salesman had. "Who are you? Who are all those other guys? Where are they going?"

Though preoccupied with the immorality of his teammates, Cody managed to fire off his answers. "I'm nobody. They're nobodies. They're going to hell. Would you like some ice cream?"

Henry, Kenta, Miyako, Daisuke, and Tomoki ran to the entrance of the twin-towered building. To their surprise, the door was the revolving variety.

Henry addressed the team with his outline of a plan. "We go in, we get Suzie, we get the programs, and we get out. Any questions?"

Daisuke had one. "You know that steel rod you're carrying? Is the one up your ass just as shiny?"

Once again, Henry restrained himself. "Any _legitimate_ questions?"

Miyako had one. "As a precautionary measure, wouldn't it be advisable to don our spirit suits at this juncture?"

"Hmm, that sounds like a good idea," Tomoki commented. "Our suits are supposed to be bulletproof, and these government agent guys usually have guns." Tomoki took out his khaki ice spirit D-Tector, "Execute: Spirit Suit!" A khaki jumpsuit with dark khaki cuffs and collar formed around Tomoki, along with black rubber boots.

Kenta's sentimentalities were somewhat offended. "Hey, Tomoki jumped the gun! The Power Rangers always call to morph all together."

"Kenta, _we're_ not the Power Rangers." Henry took out his metallic gray D-Tector. "We're just a recruited team of teenagers with attitudes. Alright everybody, it's morphin'…Execute: Spirit Suits!" A metallic gray spirit suit with grass green cuffs and collar formed around Henry. A periwinkle spirit suit with pink cuffs and collar formed around Miyako. A chocolate brown spirit suit with cobalt cuffs and collar formed around Daisuke. A marigold spirit suit with orange cuffs and collar formed around Kenta. Seeing that his team was readily attired, Henry pushed his way through the revolving door. Kenta followed. Miyako and Daisuke shared a revolving compartment. Tomoki went in last.

The inside of the building resembled the lobby of a hotel. There was abused furniture sprawled across beige and scarlet carpet. There was a coffee machine and a tray of corporate bagels. The public restrooms were clearly marked.

Daisuke took a seat in a splotched recliner. "You think they have HBO?"

Tomoki took a bagel and bit into it. "Cable can get pretty expensive. It's a lot cheaper to just download whatever you want to see."

"For a secret government building, this is kinda disappointing," Kenta remarked. "I was hoping to see some aliens in stasis."

Miyako checked the lobby's building plan, a glass-enclosed black sign with white letters specifying floors for each department. For all the talk of the "Hypnos building," Miyako was somewhat surprised to find that there were actually dozens of smaller government agencies with offices in the building. Hypnos wasn't even listed on the building plan. "This is most perplexing. This is not a problem that can be solved deductively."

Henry happened to be standing behind Miyako. "So you solve it _in_ductively. Hypnos is on the top floor, the one that requires an elevator key. My dad used to have one of these keys, but he had to return it at the end of his stint with Yamaki." Henry was looking for the right way to break the news to everyone. He couldn't find it. He turned to face Daisuke, Tomoki, and Kenta, all of whom were seated comfortably. "We're going to have to take the stairs, not just to the last floor, but all the way up. There's a surveillance guard devoted entirely to the elevator cameras. As soon as we enter, we'll be spotted. If we're going to pull this off, we're going to need at least some element of surprise."

The bagel fell out of Tomoki's mouth. "Not cool…this place is like forty stories high."

"Forty-one office floors, two utility floors, and a three-star cafeteria according to the building plan," Miyako corrected.

Daisuke rose from his recliner and headed back toward the revolving door. "Have fun with that. Let me know what happens when you make it to the top. I'm betting at least one of you passes out."

"Daisuke, you're coming with us," Miyako commanded firmly.

Daisuke turned around and rejoined the group. "Heh-heh, I was just kidding."

Kenta was gung-ho. "These rescue missions are 'sposeta be a challenge. There's always an uphill climb, whether it's a nature trail up a steep hillside or a staircase up a high rise. Now let's hit those stairs and start climbing!"

The rest of the group stared incredulously at Kenta.

Kenta knew he had said something awkward. "What?"

Henry sighed. "You heard the man; head for the emergency staircase—but let's make sure we pace ourselves. Nobody's passing out on my watch."

**Author's Notes:**

No, the chapter's not over, but this is where I stopped caring. I'll give you a summary of how it ends, but first, I'll give you some concessions. I didn't know most tuna cans are actually made of steel, not aluminum, so when the guns were made, I was going to have my Real Legendary Warriors comment on how fucking heavy they were. Also, junior police officers _do_ exist in this world. I got a telemarketing call recently asking me if I wanted to contribute to the program.

**A Complicated Song (the rest of this story):**

The Real Legendary Warriors get to the top of the stairs, and they find that the door to the last flight is locked (of course), so Henry kicks the door in, much to the envy of Daisuke. The gang stealthily makes their way past a few guards, but then they get caught and just start kicking ass. Yes, they get shot at, but fortunately, their suits are bulletproof. Henry and Kenta fight their way through dozens of guys in black suits, which provides a distraction while Miyako, Daisuke, and Tomoki head for the computer mainframe.

Miyako tries to convince Riley to allow her access to the Hypnos system (since it's password-protected), but Riley refuses. Then Daisuke manages to convince Riley by playing psychologist to her personal frustrations in her relationship with Yamaki. Somehow, Daisuke even gets Riley's phone number, which doesn't sit well with Miyako (despite their having the same American voice actor), but of course, she would never admit that. Miyako downloads the Yuggoth and Juggernaut programs to her jump drive, and the three of them rejoin Henry and Kenta just as they've fought their way to Yamaki.

Henry demands that Yamaki release Suzie, and if necessary, Henry threatens to take Suzie by force (like he hasn't already used force beating on Hypnos employees with his springy sneakers and his containment rod). Yamaki makes a call on his cell phone, and then Yutaka enters the room from a nearby office supply closet toting a bound and gagged Suzie. Tomoki notes how, curiously, Yutaka doesn't look any older than the last time he saw him. Yamaki offers to give Suzie back in exchange for the password to the inter-dimensional portal program.

Henry says that even if he knew the password, he wouldn't give it up, and then he does a huge running jump over Yamaki's head (keep in mind; his spirit sneakers amplify his jumping height tenfold). As soon as he lands, he does a high back kick that nails Yamaki in the back of the head. Yamaki falls flat. Then Henry smacks Yutaka in the back of the head with his containment rod. Yutaka falls flat. Then Henry removes the gag from Suzie's mouth and asks if she's alright (and by "alright," he probably wants to know if she was raped).

Yamaki and Yutaka stand up immediately, which shocks Henry because he's pretty sure he delivered knockout shots. Then Yutaka's arm liquefies into a tendril and he re-snags Suzie. That's when the Real Legendary Warriors realize something is terribly wrong. Henry thinks he has the puzzle solved: Yamaki and Yutaka were assimilated by the D-Reaper, but there's more to it than that. Like all good villains, Yamaki explains everything.

Before the D-Reaper was reduced to a program no smarter than a calculator and sucked back into the Digital World, a piece of the core consciousness infiltrated Hypnos and latched onto the mainframe (which corresponds with the series; there was an episode where the D-Reaper caused some technical difficulties for Yamaki). The piece that remained took a year to rebuild itself, but then it split in two—a sectarian divergence. One core consciousness still wanted to follow the D-Reaper's programming and eliminate everything that exceeded its original parameters, but the other piece was so enthralled with Jeri's nihilistic attitude that it wanted to find a suitable human host with whom to share these emotions in a symbiotic relationship.

The piece that wanted to feel human emotions is elsewhere with its willing host, but Yamaki and Yutaka are controlled by the other consciousness, and they aren't really Yamaki and Yutaka. They're D-Reaper clones (like the Jeri clone), and they killed and dismembered the real versions several years prior. Yamaki was the first human replaced because the D-Reaper knew his level of access was invaluable. The D-Reaper (Yamaki) aided the re-growth of the D-Reaper in the Digital World, and once it had conquered the Digital World, it broke through Takato's stone and entered the real world.

While in the real world, the D-Reaper is continuously assimilating, and just to ensure its survival, it replaced every member of the Hypnos organization. With that assertion, all the guys Henry and Kenta had thought they had knocked out get up and turn into D-Reaper versions of Digimon (as previously described by Takato in his recounting of his visit to the Digital World). Riley turns into Arukenimon (much to Daisuke's chagrin), Tally turns into Mummymon, Yutaka turns into BlackWarGreymon, and Yamaki turns into MaloMyotismon. The other Hypnos employees turn into various Champion level Digimon.

Completely surrounded, Henry and Daisuke use their spirit weapons. Amazingly, Henry bests BlackWarGreymon in hand-to-hand combat and uses his containment rod to reduce BlackWarGreymon to a puddle of ooze. Daisuke does the same to Mummymon using his baseball bat. Unfortunately, the puddles of ooze just reform. Henry says it's because they were using digital energy attacks, which were never able to keep the D-Reaper down for very long, and what they need are deletion attacks, which Tomoki would be capable of, if only he had access to some ice.

MaloMyotismon (Yamaki, the D-Reaper) tells the Real Legendary Warriors that all of their lives will be terminated unless they give up the password. To emphasize his point, he grabs Suzie and dangles her twenty feet in the air. Tomoki says he'll give up the password, but as a show of cooperation, MaloMyotismon has to start by releasing Suzie. MaloMyotismon gradually lowers Suzie back to the floor. Then Tomoki gives him the password: "inaction" (recall that Mr. Wong said "inaction is action" earlier in this story).

MaloMyotismon turns back into Yamaki. He types the password into the inter-dimensional portal program, and sure enough, it works. A portal to the digital world (the one where Junpei and Izumi live) is opened, and Yamaki sends BlackWarGreymon (Yutaka, the D-Reaper) through to begin assimilating it. Then Yamaki turns back into MaloMyotismon, and the Real Legendary Warriors understand that their lives are still going to be terminated despite giving up the password.

Kenta notes that the floor they are standing on is tile, meaning ceramic, meaning an earth material. He puts his hands on the floor and summons a huge digital energy attack that disintegrates every D-Reaper Digimon standing on the floor, which is all of them. Henry, Kenta, Miyako, Daisuke, Tomoki, and Suzie run back to the emergency stairs as the D-Reaper Digimon are starting to reform.

The kids don't have the time or energy to run back down the stairs, but fortunately, Kenta has another bright idea. He wraps one end of his steel-jacketed wire rope around a handrail and ties off the end with the nozzle he bought for Miyako. Then he throws the reel over the stairway barricade. He climbs over the barricade and slides down (yes, all forty-four stories) the rope like a firehouse pole. When he hits the bottom, he calls the others on his D-Tector to let them know he's fine, except for the fact that his hands and thighs have severe rope burn. With the D-Reaper Digimon almost done reforming, the other Real Legendary Warriors follow Kenta down. They all curse the severe rope burn when they get to the bottom.

Daisuke gives Kenta his pocketknife to cut off the used portion of the rope (let's say Daisuke's pocketknife blade is made of some sort of super hard and sharp tool steel that can cut through steel rope) so Kenta can still keep the rest of the reel, and the pocketknife, for another such emergency.

The gang runs out of the building and piles into the ice cream truck. With urgency, they tell Cody to drive, and that's the end of this story.

**Author's Notes (okay, now we're done):**

Musical Inspirations:

Mr. Wong's main theme: "Say Hello 2 Heaven" by Temple of the Dog

Yamaki's main theme: "Data Control" by Hüsker Dü

The Real Legendary Warriors main theme: "Invincible" by Jeremy Sweet

Cody's "Load" theme: "Wasting My Hate" by Metallica

Kenta's gung-ho attitude: "Alive or Dead" by The Draft

Outcome of this story: "The Shape of Things to Come" by Powerman 5000

Literature Inspirations:

One of the core consciousnesses symbiotically bonded with a human. Ring a bell? Maybe I'm ripping off the Marvel Comics Symbiote, or maybe the D-Reaper was a rip-off of the Symbiote to begin with.

Television Inspirations:

I think I there was some Captain Planet influence for the spirit powers.

As if this wasn't Power Rangerish enough, I made a direct reference.

Political Inspirations:

Is the "sectarian divergence" a reference to the veritable civil war that erupted in Iraq after the United States "accomplished" the mission? I'll let you decide.

Personal Inspirations:

I had to purchase steel-jacketed wire rope to a military specification as one of the components of a rubber plug (for a CH-37 helicopter, I think) that my employer manufactured.

©2007 by Benjamin Wiseman

Please send me your comments and 


	9. Your Horoscope for Today

All Seasons: Wisemon's Actual Ending Series

Part 9: Your Horoscope for Today

By Wisemon

Digimon is the property of Toei Animation. This series is intended mostly as a release for a burning plot idea, and for an ending that I find far more relatable than that of my Alternate Ending Series. So, the dialogue will be a bit less frequent in this one. In fact, at this point, I'm just summarizing the plot in the present tense (to make it sound more like a summary) and throwing in scenes when I feel like it. This barely constitutes fan fiction. I would advise reading this chapter only so that the last chapter (the brilliant one) makes complete sense. Well, have at it.

The Real Legendary Warriors, Suzie, and Mr. Wong are back in the Wongs' apartment. Henry tells his dad that the mission was relatively successful; they got the Yuggoth and Juggernaut programs, and they rescued Suzie. Tomoki let out the password Yamaki wanted, and Yamaki turned out to be the D-Reaper, and the D-Reaper entered the digital world, but other than that, everything went as planned.

Mr. Wong is happy to have Suzie back, but he's rather miffed about the D-Reaper entering the digital world. The digital world was the only backup the Earth had, and if the D-Reaper takes over the digital world, the Earth loses the internet, which would cause a complete collapse of government, business, and society.

Tomoki calls up Junpei and Izumi and warns them to be on the lookout for the D-Reaper, last seen as BlackWarGreymon or Yutaka, and he apologizes for letting it in. He advises the best course of action would be to quarantine the rest of the digital world, meaning they should stay in Cloud Kingdom and prevent access to it by removing part of the VerticalTrailmon track. Junpei says that wouldn't be very kingly of him, but he would consider it.

Henry proposes that by using the Yuggoth blasters and the Juggernaut program, the Real Legendary Warriors can stop the D-Reaper altogether by eliminating both core consciousnesses. They would not even have to worry about the D-Reaper in the digital world because that agent would get sucked in with the core consciousness, just the way worm-holing the D-Reaper core consciousness in the real world (the first time) also sucked in the D-Reaper in the Digital World.

Mr. Wong counters that the D-Reaper, most likely, has already considered this outcome and sent one of the core consciousnesses to the digital world to prevent it, just as the D-Reaper sent its core consciousness to Earth the first time. In general, by keeping its core consciousness at the frontier of un-assimilated territory, the D-Reaper programmed itself to stay a step ahead.

After much bickering, it is decided that the war must be fought on two fronts. Henry and Kenta will stop the core consciousness on Earth, the one that bonded symbiotically with a human, and Daemon will take Miyako, Daisuke, Tomoki, Cody, and SlimeBakemon to the digital world to stop the original program's core consciousness. But before any of that can happen, they must finish constructing the Yuggoth blasters and install the Juggernaut chip in Henry's containment rod.

The next day, Junpei, Izumi, young Tomoki, and several Ultimate level digimon representatives (Azulongmon got rid of all the Mega level digimon) have a meeting in the Thundercloud Castle conference room. Junpei is still feeling some ill approval ratings from not doing something about Azulongmon sooner, and he knows he'll get blamed if he does nothing to protect the digimon from the D-Reaper. He proposes that every digimon be allowed, and strongly encouraged, to come to Cloud Kingdom immediately to avoid the D-Reaper scourge. The campaign is set in motion, and hours later, Cloud Kingdom is packed with frightened digimon who are grateful to Junpei and Izumi for protection.

Over the course of several days, SlimeBakemon and Daemon finish making the bodies of the guns, which turn out to be much heavier than expected. Miyako writes programs to chips, including the one that can convert mechanical vibrations to storage battery potential, and Henry solders in all of the components. They have to work closely together to accomplish this, and that means Miyako has to pay frequent visits to the Wongs' apartment, including a few sleepovers, and that means Daisuke struggles like crazy to control his jealousy. When Henry and Miyako are all done, they have created five pump-action Yuggoth blasters ready for combat with the D-Reaper.

Now, while the Yuggoth blasters are being constructed, there's a crucial confrontation between Tomoki and Suzie:

Tomoki and Suzie sat next to each other on the Wongs' living room futon, as they did so often, but to Tomoki, there seemed to be a rare urgency of opportunity. Mr. Wong was at his job. Miyako and Henry were fine-tuning the Yuggoth blasters in Henry's room. As a way to clear his conscience about living in Tomoki's apartment for free, Cody was helping SlimeBakemon sell snow cones. Daisuke and Daemon were in the park playing a pickup game of soccer. Kenta was…somewhere. Tomoki was engaged in a retrospective conversation about Suzie's ordeal at Hypnos.

"I was so scared." Despite her assertion, Suzie's voice was more exuberant about having a tale to tell than scared for having gone through it. "It was even scarier than being in the Digital World. At least there, I had Lopmon to protect me."

"I'm glad that you're back and you're safe." Tomoki saw nothing remarkably attractive about Suzie. By some convention, she probably was attractive, but Tomoki just didn't find himself attracted to any girls (or boys for that matter). She was just a friend, but there was comfort in friendship, and that was an attraction all its own. "When you got kidnapped, I was worried about you."

"I was worried about me too," Suzie needlessly added.

Tomoki tried to find the courage, or what he thought was courage, to say what he thought he was supposed to feel. "Suzie, I care about you."

"Uh…I care about you too," Suzie responded apprehensively.

Tomoki went for it. There was no instinct. He very consciously decided to lean his face toward Suzie's and pucker up. He got within two inches. Then his face was shoved away.

"What are you doing?" Suzie asked Tomoki with an air of agitation.

Tomoki was baffled; it was just such an unexpected outcome. "I was trying to kiss you."

"We're friends. Friends don't kiss each other." The agitation gained a tinge of condescension.

"I know…but I thought…" Tomoki tried to remember what he thought. "I thought once we got to know each other well enough, we were supposed to be boyfriend and girlfriend."

"That's not how it works."

"But I've seen it work that way," Tomoki protested. "Junpei and Izumi, my friends in the digital world, were best friends before they fell in love, and then they got married and had a kid."

"Good for them, but that's not how it goes in the real world." Much like her father, Suzie felt the need for a lecture. "See, when boys and girls first meet, there's a choice they have to make as to whether they want to be friends or eventual sexual partners. You chose to be my friend. It's too late to change that."

"But that was five years ago! I didn't know I was making a choice." Tomoki decided to approach the situation from the other end. "Do you…do you like me?"

"Yes, as a friend, but you're much too weird to be my boyfriend."

"I'm weird?" Tomoki had never considered himself to be weird. "What about me is so weird?"

Suzie shot out her reasons like bullets on a PowerPoint. "It's weird to run your own business at fifteen years old, live by yourself in a tiny apartment, call friends you've never met in person just because they happen to have Digivices, call your best friends people you'll probably never see again, have another friend/business partner who's a ghost with a speech impediment…and those friends of yours living with you in your apartment, they're weird too, especially that kid who looks like you."

"You mean Cody?"

"I don't care what his name is. The kid acts like a police officer or something. He's a total spaz, and I think he's not that different from you."

"And _I think_ he's not that different from your brother," Tomoki retorted.

"Henry's the weirdest of the weird. I might have to look up to him, and I might have to respect him, but I don't have to like him. He always thinks he knows what's best for me, just like my dad, just like everyone. You're all just so annoying!" Suzie jumped from the futon and ran to her room. She came back a minute later with a little plastic bag. Every piece of quartz Tomoki had given her for her birthday over the course of five years was inside. "I want you to take back the stones you gave me. I thought it was cute at first, but then it just got stupid. You gave me quartz, Tomoki, _quartz_; what the fuck?"

Reluctantly, Tomoki took back the accumulated quartz pieces. "I thought girls liked stones."

"No offense, but what you don't know about girls could fill a stadium." Suzie went to her closing remarks. "I don't want to be your girlfriend, and I barely want to be your friend anymore."

Tomoki examined his little quartz pieces trying to figure out how he felt. He didn't think he was moved one way or another, but it was hard to tell. "It's cool." It was the only conclusion Tomoki could come to. "If you don't want to be my girlfriend, I'm okay with that. We can still be friends."

Suzie added another bullet. "Then that's another thing that's weird about you. You just got rejected; you're supposed to be heartbroken and sobbing right now."

"I don't know what to tell you. I haven't cried in years."

Suzie stood up and went back to her room, leaving Tomoki to stare in silent wonder at his quartz pieces.

So, the Real Legendary Warriors have their Yuggoth blasters, and Henry has the Juggernaut chip installed in his containment rod, but they have no way to find the D-Reaper's core consciousness. Then Daisuke makes a comment on how the weather in May in this dimension is hotter than the May weather in his home dimension. Henry tells him that the climate, on average, has been getting hotter by a few degrees every year over the past few years. That's when Mr. Wong has his eureka moment. The D-Reaper must be the cause of the warming trend (no, not global warming caused by greenhouse gases, which, coincidentally, has also been increasing scarily over the past few years). Mr. Wong elaborates; when probes were put in the D-Reaper's barrier, the measured temperature was very hot. Henry says that he also remembered it being very hot when he went inside as MegaGargomon. They both conclude that a consistent and large barrier sustained by the core consciousness over the years could cause the surrounding air across the entire island to increase in temperature noticeably, as it had. By locating the hottest area, the source, the D-Reaper's core consciousness can also be found. Here's some dialogue:

"So what are we supposed to do—run around the city reading thermometers?" Daisuke asked somewhat sarcastically.

"No, you're going to be running around the _digital world_ reading thermometers," Henry retorted. "Finding the heat source in this world is just a matter of checking in-depth meteorological maps, which for the time being, are still available on the internet."

Studying the maps, Henry deduces the approximate area, within a kilometer radius, and he says that is where he and Kenta will be going. Undoubtedly, this is where they will find the core consciousness that remains on Earth. Meanwhile, it is agreed that Daemon takes Miyako, Daisuke, Tomoki, Cody, SlimeBakemon, and the ice cream truck to the digital world, and they will drive around with thermocouples and a reader looking for the heat source, which should be the other core consciousness. Then they will delete it with their Yuggoth blasters. Such is the plan, and they all agree to go through with it the following day.

In preparation for the next day's mission, Cody and Daemon refill the gas tank of the ice cream truck. Daemon tells Cody he went into the gas station convenience store to pay the clerk, but Cody knows Daemon doesn't have any money, and he knows he has once again been cajoled into illegal activity.

For this reason, that night, inside Tomoki's overcrowded apartment, Cody has trouble falling asleep—but they all have their own reasons. Daemon has a tummy ache. SlimeBakemon is afraid of getting assimilated by the D-Reaper. Tomoki is still in disbelief over what happened with Suzie. Somehow, they all manage to fall asleep before Miyako and Daisuke. Here's some dialogue:

It was hot in the room, even hotter than it actually was. Daisuke was lying atop his sleeping bag, and he was trying his best to fade, but he knew Miyako was also still awake. He rolled to his side and faced her. "You know, what we're doing tomorrow, it's going to be risky. We don't have our Digimon to protect us this time, and…I get the feeling…we might not come out of this alive."

Miyako immediately sat up. "You can't say that!" she told Daisuke in a loud, agitated whisper. "You're supposed to be the voice of unshakable confidence. When the rest of us have our consternations and places we would rather be, you're supposed to be the one who says everything will be satisfactory as we are."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I think I matured a little in the past several years. I didn't mean to; it just happened." Daisuke moved onto the question he wanted to ask. "Look, just in case we don't make it, and for the sake of getting some sleep, let's call that a slim chance, is there something you always wanted to say to me?"

Miyako maintained a drowsy poker face. "…Nothing comes to mind, but right now, I'm too tired to cogitate."

"If you're so tired, then why don't you fall asleep?" Daisuke asked smugly.

Miyako's eyes shut, her head and body crashed back to her sleeping bag, and she immediately fell asleep.

"Oh…you're good." Daisuke followed Miyako to dreamland a few minutes later.

Meanwhile, Kenta sleeps over at the Wongs' apartment. He and Henry go over potential strategies for the next day, and then they go to sleep. Kenta dreams about the last video game he played—the battle with Cryotek he never got to finish.

Henry is having a nightmare. He's MegaGargomon spinning like crazy to suck the D-Reaper back into the Digital World, but it's just not working. The D-Reaper comes out of the wormhole. It deletes Terriermon, Guilmon, Renamon, Monodramon, and Calumon. Then it kills Takato, Jeri, Ryo, and Rika. Kazu, Kenta, Guardromon, and MarineAngemon enter the scene in MarineAngemon's heart bubble, but to no avail. The D-Reaper kills/deletes them as well. A voice tells Henry this is his future. The warrior of earth will perish in battle, and the warrior of steel will have to stand alone against the D-Reaper. Henry recognizes the voice, the same one he heard in the PowerPoint presentation, and he realizes this dream is not entirely the conjuring of his own subconscious.

In the morning, the morning of May 19th, 2010, Henry wakes up Kenta. Then he discusses his dream, his concern that some higher being has prophesized Kenta's death, and how it might just be inevitable. Kenta assures Henry that neither one of them will die (while striking a pose with his Yuggoth blaster). They will both emerge triumphant. Henry tries to sound convinced. He recalls what Sensei had said about the Devas, how the perceived enemy isn't necessarily the enemy. Counterintuitively, he reasons that the perceived ally, Wisemon, isn't necessarily the ally. Perhaps there's an ulterior motive, a reason Wisemon would want Kenta dead, and a reason Wisemon would want the D-Reaper vanquished (other than the benefit of all life in three worlds). Henry calls Tomoki on his D-Tector and shares these concerns.

Tomoki tells Henry to chill, but that doesn't mean Tomoki isn't having similar concerns. Oh so carefully, Tomoki is considering what he'll do when he returns to the digital world, deliberating where choice and destiny separate, and where they might just have to meet.

**Author's Notes:**

Personal Inspirations:

The little scene with Tomoki and Suzie was a bit personal. I changed a few things.

©2007 by Benjamin Wiseman

Please send me your comments and 


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